Saudi police shoot dead ISIL suspect

RIYADH // Saudi security forces killed a suspected ISIL member when he pulled a gun on a patrol in the capital Riyadh.

Officers were called to an apartment in the Al Rayan district where the suspect was “flaunting his support” for the extremist group on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

“When security men tried to arrest him, he initiated resistance and pulled a gun and it became necessary to deal with him and neutralise him, which led to his death,” the ministry said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Another person was arrested and was found to be in possession of a weapon.

Also on Wednesday, a Saudi policeman was shot dead in his car in the eastern region of Qatif which is a predominantly Shiite Muslim region.

An unidentified assailant shot dead the policeman in his car late Tuesday, interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour Al Turki said.

Saudi Arabia’s eastern province has been a target of ISIL attacks. The extremist group has claimed a series of deadly shootings and bombings in Saudi Arabia since late 2014.

Most attacks have targeted the Shiite minority and security forces, killing dozens of people.

ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has called for attacks against Saudi Arabia, a member of the US-led coalition battling the group in Syria and Iraq.

On January 7, Saudi officers shot and killed two suspected extremists including an explosive belt maker during a police operation in northern Riyadh.

* Reuters and Associated Press