Authorities in Saudi Arabia say security forces conducting a series of anti-terror raids have killed two suspects and arrested three.
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The men had reached “advanced stages of preparation” in planning the attack, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry added that three other IS members were arrested in the operations. Images broadcast on state TV and on local news websites show security forces retrieving weapons and bomb-making material from an underground hideout and from inside a residence.
The ministry confirmed the uncovered terrorist cell was affiliated with an ISIL suicide bomber responsible for an August explosion at a mosque in the southwestern Saudi city of Abha, which killed at least 15 people.
Islamic State has called on supporters to carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia and string of deadly attacks by its followers has fuelled concerns about a growing threat of militancy in the world’s top oil exporter.
Last Saturday, police killed a suspected jihadist gunman and detained his brother in the kingdom’s northwest during an operation that left a policeman dead, the ministry said.
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Saudi Arabia is part of a U.S.-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
