Suicide bomber kills 21 at Saudi mosque

RIYADH: An Islamic State (IS) suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a mosque in Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing 21 people and wounding 102 others in an assault that threatens to fan sectarian tensions.
The bomber struck during the Friday prayers in the Eastern Province. The interior ministry said a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the Shia mosque in Kudeih, in the city of Qatif, the official SPA news agency reported.
“An individual detonated a bomb he was wearing under his clothes during the Friday prayers at Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque in Kudeih in Qatif,” the ministry spokesman said in a statement.He did not give a specific casualty toll, only that several people were killed and wounded.Activists and witnesses gave conflicting tolls, with one saying four worshippers were killed and others speaking of 22 dead.
News websites in eastern Saudi Arabia posted photographs of bodies lying in pools of blood.Qatif hospital issued an urgent call for blood donations and called in off-duty staff to cope with the high number of casualties, the activist said.
Naseema Assada, a resident of Qatif, said worshippers were celebrating the birth of Hazrat Imam Hussein (RA) when the blast occurred.“The people are very angry,” she said, adding that they tried to stop police from entering Kudeih. Residents had fearedsuch an attack was coming, she said, because the government was failing to curb hate speech on social media.
“We don’t want a repeat of what is happening in Syria or Iraq here,” she said, referring to the militant Islamic State that has declared a “caliphate” in those countries. “This is our country and we love it.”
The mufti of Saudi Arabia, the highest-ranking cleric, denounced the attack.“It is a criminal act aimed at dividing the sons of the nation... and at sowing trouble in our country,” he said on state television.
The attack comes as a Saudi-led coalition has since March 26 been bombing rebels in Yemen who have overrun much of the country and forced the government to flee abroad.The interior ministry spokesman said Saudi Arabia would “hunt down anyone involved in this terrorist crime carried out by people seeking to undermine national unity.”
The Islamic State said it carried out the suicide attack on a mosque in Saudi Arabia, the first time the militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack on Saudi soil.In a statement posted on the Internet, the Islamic State identified the bomber as Abu Amer al-Najdi and said “soldiers of the caliphate” had carried out the attack in the village of al-Qudaih in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
The United States condemned the bombing, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not immediately able to confirm it was the work of IS.Iran demanded that the perpetrators be found and punished, and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah said it holds the Saudi authorities “totally responsible” for the bombing.
President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the blast that took place in a mosque in Saudi Arabia.In their separate statements, the president and the prime minister expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of lives.
They also extended their condolences to Saudi King Shah Salman bin Abdulaziz over the incident. They sympathised with the bereaved families and said Pakistan stood by Saudi Arabia at this difficult time. They also prayed for early recovery of the injured.
The Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah in a statement said the people and the Government of Pakistan wish to convey their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for speedy recovery of the injured.“We share the grief of the brotherly people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over this cowardly and deliberate attack against innocent civilians,” he said.