String bombings: Saudis identify Jeddah bomber as Pakistani

Abdullah Qalzar Khan had been living in Saudi Arabia for 12 years; Islamabad is investigating

RIYADH: A suicide bomber who targeted diplomats outside the US consulate in Jeddah was identified by Saudi officials as a Pakistani who had been living in the oil-rich kingdom for over a decade.

The Jeddah blast, carried out early Monday morning, was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom and coincided with the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.



It was followed by two suicide blasts during Maghreb prayers in different parts of Saudi Arabia including near a Shia mosque in the eastern city of Qatif that left two dead and near Masjid-e-Nabawi in Madina that left four security officials dead and five others wounded.

The suicide bomber, who was killed and injured two security personnel when his explosive vest only partially detonated, was identified as 34-year-old Pakistani driver named Abdullah Qalzar Khan, who lived with his wife and parents in the city.

Pakistan said it will check whether the Jeddah bomber was a citizen. An official of the US State Department said no American citizens or consulate staff were hurt in the blast.

A security spokesman said the body of a bomber and two other people in the Qatif bombing have been identified but did not provide details.

In Madina, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a parking lot outside Masjid-e-Nabawi, the second holiest site in Islam, a Saudi security spokesperson told state news agency SPA.



“Security men noticed a suspicious person among those approaching the Mosque in an open area used as parking lots for visitors’ cars. As they confronted him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt, which resulted in his death and the martyrdom of four of the security men,” the spokesman said.  Five other officers were wounded, the statement added.

A video sent to Reuters by a witness to the aftermath of the Madina bombing showed a large blaze among parked cars in the fading evening light, with the sound of sirens in the background. A picture sent to Reuters showed a burnt and bleeding man lying on a stretcher in a hospital.  Other pictures circulating on social media showed dark smoke billowing from flames near the mosque.  Witnesses described body parts, apparently of a suicide bomber, in the aftermath.

There were no claims of responsibility for the bombings in Medina, Jeddah and Qatif, but the Islamic State group had urged its supporters to carry out attacks during Ramazan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2016.