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Suicide car-bomber the cause of Riyadh explosions
A suicide attacker tried to drive his bomb-laden car into the Interior Ministry complex, and militants set off another bomb and exchanged fire with police late Wednesday in Riyadh, capital of a kingdom at war with Muslim extremists. The first explosion at about 8:35 p.m. shattered windows and sent smoke and flames rising into the nighttime sky near the ministry in central Riyadh. Police officials said a suicide car bomber had tried to storm the ministry, but failed and instead exploded his car just outside. A number of policemen were injured, a ministry official said, without elaborating. The ministry, which is in charge of Saudi security forces, is key to leading the crackdown that Saudi Arabia has led against Islamic militants this year. About a half hour after the ministry bombing, a second explosion went off five miles away at a center for recruiting emergency troops, police said. Al-Arabiya television reported the second explosion was part of a failed attempt to storm the recruiting center. There was no immediate word on casualties. At about the same time, a police official said, Saudi security forces clashed with militants who fired small arms and threw grenades. The gunmen later holed up in a building surrounded by police while armored cars sealed off the area, the official said. After the ministry blast, smoke was seen rising from a traffic tunnel nearby, and Al-Arabiya reported that shooting was heard from the tunnel. Three helicopters hovered overhead as the sirens of ambulances and police cars were heard in the area. Police sealed off nearby roads.  The blast shattered windows at the ministry and started a fire, a ministry official told The Associated Press. In addition to the Interior Ministry, the Civil Service Ministry, a post office and a luxury hotel are in the area, known as al-Murabaa. UPDATE: Seven militants were killed in the gunbattle with police in a northern district of Riyadh, Al-Arabiya television reported. Posted by: Seafarious 2004-12-29 |
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