Suicide Bomber Targets Shiite Mosque in Saudi Arabia

A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a Shi'ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing or wounding dozens of people. The blast hit during afternoon prayers at the Imam Ali mosque in Qatif, a governorate on the east coast of the predominantly Sunni Muslim kingdom. The state-run Saudi Press Agency confirmed the attack. Pictures posted on social media show injured or dead victims in blood-soaked clothes being brought out of a building into ambulances parked outside. There have been no claims of responsibility and no confirmation of the number of casualties.

Such attacks are relatively rare in Saudi Arabia, though the country shares a long border with Iraq and Yemen, both of which have seen extensive unrest.

Also on Friday, Islamic State claimed responsibility through social media for a bombing at a Shi'ite mosque in the Yemeni capital Sana'a that wounded at least a dozen people. (VOA)