Dubai (Reuters) Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and anti-terror tsar sought on Tuesday to reassure Saudis of the country’s security after suicide attacks targeting the holy city of Madinah, the US consulate in Jeddah and Shiites in the city of Qatif.
At least four people were killed in the attacks on Monday.
No group has claimed responsibility but Daesh has carried out a number of similar bombings in the kingdom in the past year, targeting Shiites and Saudi security forces.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the Saudi interior minister, visited two security officers and a citizen wounded in the bombing in Jeddah, the state news agency SPA reported on Monday evening.
“The security of the homeland is good, it is at its highest levels and thanks be to God it gets stronger every day,” SPA quoted Prince Mohammad as saying during the visit.
The attacks have rattled Saudis who are preparing to celebrate Eid Al Fitr from Wednesday following the month-long Ramadan when they fast from dawn to dusk.
Militant attacks on Madinah, home to the Prophet’s Mosque and the second-holiest site in Islam, are unprecedented.
Prince Mohammad has been credited for successfully ending a bombing campaign by Al Qaida in Saudi Arabia between 2003-2006.
“I know that terrorist operations are not a simple thing, and the minor impacts that you feel now will go away, God willing,” Prince Mohammad said, according to SPA. “I had been through this in the past and feel what you feel,” he added, referring to a suicide bombing he had survived in his office in 2009.
Saudi security officials say the group’s supporters inside the kingdom mainly act independently, depending on Daesh based in Iraq and Syria for only limited logistical help and advice, making them harder to detect, but also less capable of mounting attacks on well-protected targets.
