(KUNA) -- At least six alleged Al-Qaeda members and a Saudi policeman were killed in Riyadh Friday in a fire exchange, said Saudi Interior Ministry. The website of Al-Arbiya television cited Saudi security sources as saying that the extremists were about to carry on an attack and that another Al-Qaeda member was injured in the clash that took place in Nakhil neighborhood in Riyadh.The Interior Ministry's spokesperson said that security forces were following the seven extremists Friday morning and as they arrived to a house in Nakhil neighborhood the extremists opened heavy fire at them. "The situation was swiftly controlled," said the spokesman, noting that some of the security forces got injured during the 30-minute clash.
More detail, from Arab News...
Saudi security forces killed six suspected members of a terrorist cell allegedly plotting suicide attacks from a house in a residential district of the capital early yesterday morning. One suspect, injured by gunfire while trying to escape, has reportedly been captured but was in critical condition at an undisclosed location.
| I'd guess he's gonna die in custody... |
| ... that'd be al-Qaeda, naturally... |
One of the policemen cordoning off the area told the news agency AFP: “The group was preparing a terrorist operation and its members were being tailed on the basis of intelligence service information.”
Saudi state television showed police removing several vehicles from the scene, some of them damaged in the clash, as officers carried away what appeared to be bags of evidence. Security sources said the militants were on the verge of launching unspecified attacks. The ministry reported that the search of the property turned up boxes of documents and computers that were being used to communicate with others through the Internet. The two-story house was recently constructed in this residential neighborhood. Policemen at the scene later said they had seized a videotape showing that the group had been plotting to carry out a suicide bombing against a security target in Riyadh within the next two days.
| Got the goodbye message and everything, likely... |
The Interior Ministry arranged a private plane to fly in members of slain officer ShehriÂ’s family to attend his burial, said Turki. Prince Mohammed ibn Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs, attended the funeral prayers yesterday.
Security forces yesterday afternoon surrounded a house and made a thorough search on getting information that the house belonged to a member of the deviant group. The house is in the Olaya district. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah pledged in April to annihilate Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the Kingdom, vowing to “combat the ideology of those who accuse others of infidelity.” At least 90 civilians, 55 security personnel and 136 militants have died since a wave of unrest began in May 2003 where compounds were attacked in Riyadh. Hundreds more have been wounded.