25 June,2017 06:56 AM IST | Riyadh | Agencies
Saudi security forces say that a suicide bomber blew himself up, injuring 11
Muslim worshippers pray at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Pic/AFP
A suicide bomber blew himself up near the Grand Mosque at Mecca as police disrupted a plot to target the holiest site in Islam just as the fasting month of Ramadan ends, Saudi security forces said on Saturday.
The Interior Ministry said it launched a raid around Jeddah, as well as two areas in Mecca itself. Police said they engaged in a shootout at a three-story house where the suicide bomber blew himself up. The attacker was killed while the blast wounded six people and five members of security forces, according to the Interior Ministry. Five others were arrested, including a woman, it said.
The blast demolished the building, its walls crushing a parked car as what appeared to be shrapnel and bullet holes peppered nearby structures.
The ministry did not name the group involved in the attack. Over 1 million worshippers prayed at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina to mark the end of Ramadan.
