The official insignia of the Presidency of State Security.
On August 12, Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of State Security (PSS) announced that one of nine terrorists wanted for attacking a mosque for special emergency forces in the southwestern ‘Asir province in 2015 had been killed.
In a statement, a spokesman for the PSS said that the terrorist, Abdullah bin Zayed Abdulrahman al-Bakri al-Shehri, detonated a suicide vest he was wearing when security forces attempted to apprehend him in the al-Samer district in the province of Jeddah on August 10.
Al-Shehri died at the scene, while a Pakistani resident and three security personnel with various injuries were taken to hospital to receive the necessary treatment.
“The Presidency of the State Security reiterates its determination to continue confronting whoever attempts to tamper the stability of citizens and expatriates on the territories of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the PSS said in its statement.
The nine wanted terrorists were reportedly behind an attack that targeted worshipers at the Special Emergency Forces Command Mosque in ‘Asir on 6 August 2015. The attack killed 11 security personnel and four Bangladeshi workers and wounded 33 other people. ISIS’s so-called Hijaz Province claimed responsibility for the attack, back then.
Click to see original-size image. Source: the Saudi Ministry of Interior.
Al-Shehri was the seventh terrorist from the list to be killed by Saudi Security forces. Saeed Aaidh a-Dair al-Shahrani, Taya Salem Eslam al-Saiari, Mutee Salem Islaam al-Saiari, Abdulaziz Ahmed Mohammed al-Bakri al-Shehri, Mohammed Suleiman Rahyan al-Saqri al-Anzi and Mubarak Abdullah Fahad al-Dosari were all eliminated between 2016 and 2017. Aqab Moajab Fazaan al-Otaibi was also arrested in 2016.
Now, only one of the terrorists wanted for the deadly attack on ‘Asir mosque, Majid bin Zayed al-Bakri al-Shehri, is still at large.
ISIS is not currently active in Saudi Arabia. However, it is still present there. The exact extend of the terrorist group’s influence in the Kingdom remains unknown.
