JEDDAH, 10 November 2004 — Saudi security forces clashed with four suspected terrorists in the Al-Jamia district early yesterday morning. One terrorist was killed, and three were captured during the two-hour long siege. One of the three was a foreign national, the Interior Ministry said.
According to Brig. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, a ministry spokesman, two security officers were injured in the operation that resulted in the confiscation of eight Kalashnikovs, 100 locally made bombs, machine guns, hand-grenades and live ammunition.
A ministry official told Arab News that security forces had laid siege to a house where suspected terrorists were hiding out after a fourth was spotted in the area. “The militants opened fire at the security squad, which returned fire, eventually killing one militant as well as wounding another, while two others surrendered,” the official said.
According to Al-Turki, the location had been under surveillance as a result of information and reports given to the Interior Ministry.
Residents of Al-Amal Al-Saleh Street, just around the corner from a girls’ elementary school, ran for cover as violence erupted shortly after 3 o’clock in the morning.
“I was about to go to sleep when I heard a loud commotion and doors slamming outside. There were some shouts then suddenly gunfire. I grabbed my younger sister and we hid,” Mohammed, 19, a resident whose home is just meters away from the terrorists’ hide-out, said.
“The shooting would start, then die down, then start again. We stayed hidden until after Fajr prayers had passed. When it was all quiet and we came down, we found out that the police had evacuated some of the other neighbors, but we didn’t know about it.”
