Bomb blast kills senior Saudi officer in Qatif region

A senior Saudi police official has been killed and two other policemen wounded in an explosion that targeted their patrolling vehicle in Saudi Arabia’s Shia-dominated Eastern Province, the Interior Ministry says.

According to Press TV quoting a statement released by Saudi Interior Ministry, a bomb, believed to be an improvised explosive device, was detonated beside a police patrol car as it was inspecting the old quarter of Awamiyah Village, known as al-Mosara, at 11:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The explosion, which occurred in the restive Qatif region, killed "Major Tariq bin Abdullatif al-A'laqi" and inflicted injuries on two security men "whose health conditions are stable," further said the ministry, which described the blast as a "terrorist incident."

No individual or group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

On May 16, a Saudi soldier was also killed and five others were wounded when gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at their patrol car in Awamiyah.

Takfiri Daesh terrorists have martyred more than 40 Shia Muslims since the terror group began a campaign of bombings and shootings in Eastern Province in 2014.

Furthermore, the Shia-populated Eastern Province, particularly the Qatif region, has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters, complaining of marginalization in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.

ME