Manama: Saudi Arabia was targeted with more than 128 terror attacks in the last 15 years, the spokesperson for the interior ministry has said.
The attacks resulted in the death or injury of 1,147 Saudis, foreigners and security men, Mansoor Al Turki said.
“The attacks targeted residential compounds, vital security installations, mosques, including the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah in Ramadan, and embassies,” Al Turki said during a presentation at a forum on the role of social service and intellectual security in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"Extremist ideologues have found in conflicts afflicting several countries a fertile ground and secure havens to continue their efforts to undermine the stability of Saudi Arabia, erode its values and sabotage the future of its young people," he told the forum.
"They have been relentlessly plotting terror attacks against the Saudi kingdom and its public order and social security by spreading their deviant ideas and mobilising people to carry out their despicable schemes, sow divisions within the country and incite Saudis to target one another,” Al Turki said, quoted by Saudi daily Okaz on Tuesday.
Terror groups relied mainly on social media to reach beyond national borders and to penetrate homes and society in general in order to spread their extremist ideologies, recruit elements, and set up, fund and run terror cells, he added.
“Their main targets were people who did not possess enough religious knowledge and worked them out through stoking their instincts and emotions, offering them dramatic stories and images about the lack of justice and fairness towards people and the sufferings of children, women and old men. Dissecting society and tearing it apart was a favourite tactic,” the spokesperson said.
“Extremists used women as a winning card, especially in countries where women enjoy a high level of privacy and respect. They took advantage of the high privacy standards enjoyed by Saudi women, including in their movement, recruited them and directed them as per their objectives.”
Terrorists worked on winning the hearts and minds of young people by spreading rumours and allegations, influencing debates and playing on their emotions by demoralising them, making them feel let down and forcing them to doubt their future, Al Turki added.
