The end of Ramadan saw a suicide bomber detonating himself near the Saudi security office of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, one of the holiest sites in Islam, after suicide bombers blew themselves up near a Shiite mosque in Qatif as well as near a US consulate and a mosque in Jeddah.
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“The biggest challenge facing the Islamic nation is to preserve real wealth and hope for the future of the young who face the risk of extremism and malicious calls pushing them to abnormal behaviours and practices”. Monday’s attacks on Islam’s spiritual home came as Muslims prepared for the feast marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramzan.
“We will strike with an iron fist those who target the minds and thoughts and attitudes of our dear youth”, Salman said.
There were no claims of responsibility but the Islamic State had urged its supporters to carry out attacks during the holy month and has claimed or been blamed for a wave of Ramzan shootings and bombings, including in Orlando, Istanbul, Dhaka and Baghdad.
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it was going to investigate whether the suicide bomber in Jeddah was one of its nationals.
Four people were killed in the bombing outside the Prophet’s Mosque on Monday, the same day as an attack outside a minority shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, and another near the United States consulate in the western city of Jeddah. However, the Islamic State has destroyed mosques before and sees itself at odds with both Saudi Arabia’s ruling al-Saud dynasty and the country’s religious authorities.
Following the attack, Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, Saudi’s crown prince who is spearheading the country’s anti-terror efforts, visited wounded victims, as he sought to reassure Saudis that the country’s security “is at its highest levels”. Islamic State says the Saudi rulers are apostates and has declared its intention to topple them.
The three bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia Monday should serve as a bell tolling loudly for the Saudi monarchy, particularly in its role as guardian of Islam’s holy places.
“I apologise to everyone if I don’t congratulate you this Eid”, Khaled bin Saleh al-Shathri, a Saudi businessman, wrote on Twitter.
The Afghanistan Taliban also condemned the bombing, while the Lebanon-based military group Hezbollah denounced it as “a new sign of the terrorists’ contempt for all that Muslims consider sacred”.
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He highlighted the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in uniting Arab and Islamic nations for the protection of the Islamic identity, disseminating values of moderation and tolerance and fighting the extremist terrorist organizations to maintain reginal and worldwide peace and stability.
