Gun Battles Continue in Saudi Arabia

04/04/2005| IslamWeb

Saudi security forces have killed eight suspect insurgents in an ongoing siege in the northern town of al-Ras, according to security sources.

Aljazeera said clashes were still going on as armed men hurled grenades at police from their hideout in al-Ras in the al-Qassim region, 350km northwest of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Witnesses said gunfire could still be heard on Monday morning in the neighborhood of al-Ras which security forces had surrounded since early Sunday.

Aljazeera has learned that at least one Saudi police officer was shot dead on Sunday and another 15 had been wounded by midday.

Other sources said a total of 35 security personnel had been wounded.

Suspects killed

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia's al-Ekhbariya television broadcast comments from Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abd al-Aziz, amir of the al-Qassim region, confirming that three suspected fighters had been shot and killed. 

The firefight erupted about 8am in the city of al-Ras after security forces surrounded several wanted men in a neighborhood called al-Jawazat, a security source in Riyadh said.

Al-Qaida link?

Another security source earlier said the clash erupted as security forces raided a house where "suspected members of the deviant group were believed to be hiding".

Witnesses said they saw at least three people being carried away from the house on Sunday morning, but it was not clear whether they were wounded or dead.
Speaking to Aljazeera by phone from the scene in al-Qassim, a Saudi witness Sulayman al-Siwayan said there was heavy security presence in the al-Ras neighbourhood. The place was swarming with special forces, police and civil defence personnel. 

The security operation took place next to a girl's primary school which had 94 students and 13 teachers, a factor that complicated the situation, al-Siwayan said.

The incident came less than a month after a suspected al-Qaida member was arrested along with two of his companions, after a heavy gun battle, on 13 March in the Red Sea city of Jedda.

Violence blamed on al-Qaida since May 2003 has killed 90 civilians, according to official figures. Thirty-nine members of the security forces and 92 fighters have also been killed.

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Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.