Bomb attack on Saudi police kills one, wounds six: govt

RIYADH: A bomb attack on a Saudi police patrol killed one officer and wounded six others in the Shia-majority eastern province of Qatif on Thursday, authorities said.

The patrol was targeted while on duty in the neighbourhood of Al-Musara, killing Corporal Abdullah Treiki al-Turki and wounding six other police officers, the interior ministry said, cited by the official SPA news agency.



The ministry blamed the attack on 'terrorists', without giving any further details.

The attack occurred in the same area where a policeman was killed and three others wounded in a bombing on Tuesday morning.

Saudi authorities have been bulldozing al-Musawara, a small
part of the town with narrow streets which date back more than
200 years, to make way for a new project. Local officials say wanted militants believed to be behind attacks on security forces have been using the narrow streets to escape arrest.

Three people, including a police officer, were also killed last month in bombings in Qatif, where most of Saudi Arabia's Shia minority lives. The region has been rocked by unrest since 2011.



Saudi Shias complain of discrimination by the government, a charge that authorities deny, and have carried out protests for more rights for the last several years. Demonstrations and attacks have both become more frequent since Nimr al-Nimr, a Shia cleric convicted of involvement in violence, was executed a year ago.

Authorities have blamed the unrest on 'terrorists' and drug traffickers.