Saudi Arabia: Najd Province, ISIS affiliate, claims responsibility for suicide attack on Shiite mosque
A branch of the self-declared Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia that has killed at least 19 people, a move that could represent a significant escalation of the extremist group’s operations in the kingdom.
NPR’s Leila Fadel reports from Cairo that the online statement from ISIS “named and praised the Saudi suicide bomber who detonated himself amongst a congregation of Shiite Saudis praying in a mosque in the village of al Qudaih in Qatif province.”
She says it is the first time a Saudi branch of ISIS known as Najd Province has claimed responsibility for an attack inside the kingdom. Leila says Saudi Shiites are concerned that the attack represents a backlash for Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against rebel (Shiite) Houthis in Yemen.