MAKKAH, 4 November 2003 — Saudi Arabia yesterday foiled an imminent terrorist attack by killing two militants in a shootout in Makkah, sending the remaining members of the gang fleeing into the mountains east of the holy city.
“Police surrounded the terrorists’ hideout in the holy city of Makkah. They opened heavy fire with machine guns and police responded. Two of them were killed while trying to escape,” an Interior Ministry statement read out on Saudi TV said.
Police seized rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles, pistols, explosives, ammunition and passports from the suspects’ car and the house where they were hiding, the statement added.
One policeman was slightly injured in the shootout. Police were still searching for other militants.
“With God’s help, the security apparatus were able to foil a terrorist operation which was ready to be implemented by terrorists who did not respect the sanctity of the holy sites and the holy month of Ramadan,” the statement said.
The Al-Khadra area in the Al-Shiraa district of Makkah, where the shootout took place, runs along the old footpaths to the mountain resort town of Taif, and is approximately 30 km east of the Holy Mosque.
A local resident told Arab News: “If these men ran on foot into the mountains, it would be easy for them to hide as there are a lot of caves there. However, someone familiar with the area can help police find them. I am surprised that this has happened here. There’s no one but goatherds and truck drivers out here.” Residents reported hearing a volley of gunshots yesterday morning, but were given no explanation.
“We heard the shots earlier and then there was a sudden increase in road blocks and police,” said Saad Mansour Al-Harbi, a truck driver who usually rests in the Al-Shiraa district.
The clash came just over a week after US and British authorities warned of a threat of attacks on Western targets in the Kingdom during Ramadan and urged their nationals to avoid traveling here.
The Kingdom has launched a crackdown on terrorists and arrested some 600 suspects after the May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh which killed 35 people, including nine suicide bombers.
There have been several bloody clashes between security forces and militants in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah leading to a number of arrests. On Oct. 20, the Kingdom said it had arrested militants and seized large amounts of weapons and explosives, including bomb-belts used by suicide bombers.
