Reports from Saudi Arabia say 10 people have been killed in clashes between police and militants in the holy city of Mecca. The semi-official Saudi daily, Okaz, said five suspected terrorists and five members of the security forces died during a battle in the city's Khaldia district. Police arrested another seven suspects in a raid carried out after the clashes. The paper did not say if the suspects were linked to last month's bombings. Sunday's incident occurred when a group of men in a vehicle ignored police orders to stop. After a car chase through the streets during which shots were fired, they took refuge in a building. Police evacuated the building and stormed the apartment where the suspects were holed up. Inside, they found a large quantity of weapons and explosives, while one of those arrested was wearing a suicide bomber's belt. Security was reported to be tight on the outskirts of Mecca on Sunday, with troops stopping cars for searches and to check drivers' identification.
| Regardless of what they're saying, what they're doing seems to be producing some sort of results. It'd be nice to know the picture behind it, though. |
Some more detail from Saudi Press Agency...
The security men raided at 9:30 on Saturday evening "Al-Attas" apartment building in Al-khalidia district in Makkah where a group of terrorists were residing and were preparing to launch a terror act soon. During the raid, the terrorists fired heavily on the security men and the citizens around the building and the security men responded by firing at the terrorists. Five of the terrorists were killed and the work is proceeding ahead to identify them.
Five other terrorists were captured, two of them Chadian nationals, one Egyptian, one Saudi, and the fifth one whose identity is still unknown, as well as a number of suspects. The source said that Captain Yassir bin Hasabullah Al-Mulad and Soldier Fahd bin Abdullah Wazna were martyred, adding that five policemen and four citizens also sustained slight injuries. The source noted that the apartment was ready to be exploded, and the security men found 72 bombs of different sizes which were made by the terrorists, a number of submachine guns, guns, live ammunition, cleavers, contact-devices, chemical materials for making explosives and head-masks.
| Cheeze. What nice neighbors. And how nice of those guys to come all the way from Chad... |
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