A suicide bomber has attacked the Saudi city of Medina, close to the Prophet’s Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, according to local media reports.
The bomber detonated his device as security officers were breaking their Ramadan fast, al-Arabiya TV said.
News outlets said at least two of the officers had been killed, but there has been no official confirmation.
The mosque is the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad and Medina the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca.
State-linked Sabq news and the Okaz newspaper also carried reports of the suicide attack.
Medina suicide bomb
Two further bomb blasts have hit near a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s eastern city of Qatif while a third bomb has gone off close to a security headquarters at Prophet’s Mosque in the western city of Medina.
Witnesses said Monday that they saw body parts at the site of the explosion near Qatif’s Faraj al-Omran mosque, which is frequented by people in the holy month of Ramadan.
The first explosion in Qatif destroyed a car parked near the mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7 p.m. local time.
Local media said an attacker detonated his bomb when he was attempting to enter the mosque.
Nasima al-Sada, a resident of Qatif, told AFP that “one bomber blew himself up near the mosque,” which is usually used by Shias in downtown Qatif. She added that no bystanders were hurt in the blast.
What a situation, people are attacking mosques, in Ramathan, at prayer time. Those who follow that deviated ideology need to be stopped.