Saudi Arabia’s crown prince calls for caution following attack

RIYADH // Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has called for higher vigilance and better preparedness in the kingdom after a suicide attack claimed by ISIL on a security forces mosque killed 15 people, state news agency SPA reported late on Saturday.

Thursday’s attack followed two bombings in May of mosques used by the kingdom’s Shiite minority that killed 25, several shootings of policemen in Riyadh and a car bomb outside a prison in the capital in July, all claimed by ISIL.

“His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz called on the need to intensify preparedness and raise the level of caution in the face of any developments that, God forbid, may arise,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The crown prince is also interior minister.

Saudi Arabia has joined the US and other Arab states in air strikes against the group in Syria, has mobilised state-affiliated clergy to denounce the group and has detained hundreds of its suspected supporters.

Thursday’s blast took place during noon prayers at the mosque in the Special Emergency Forces Centre in Abha, the capital of the southwestern Asir province, killing five members of the force, six trainees and four Bangladeshi workers.

ISIL claimed responsibility for attacking what it called “a military camp” on Thursday and the interior ministry on Saturday named the bomber as 21-year-old Saudi national Yousef bin Sulaiman Abdullah Al Sulaiman.

* Reuters