JEDDAH, 22 April 2005 — Four people, including two suspected militants, were killed in clashes with security forces yesterday in the holy city of Makkah, an official statement said.
They said two security men were also killed and four injured in the shootout, the fourth incident involving militants in Makkah in a year. Two wanted militants were arrested after the gunbattle that took place yesterday afternoon in the area of Umm Al-Joud located southeast of Makkah.
According to Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, a group of men ran a checkpoint disguised as women.
Witnesses said four or five suspects tried to run a checkpoint on the road leading into Makkah from Madinah, and opened fire from their car at the security men, wounding one of them.
Security forces gave chase and tracked the gunmen down to a mountainous area at the northwestern entrance of Makkah, where they besieged them.
Heavy security reinforcements were sent to the area and a helicopter hovered overhead amid an exchange of gunfire, witnesses said.
Smoke from a fire could be seen but the source of the blaze was not known. Some cars were burned in the shootout. The driver of the militants’ vehicle was among those arrested.
The incident came at the end of a day in which Makkah and Madinah joined several other regions of the country in voting to elect half the members of municipal councils in the third and last stage of a process which began in February.
Saudi security forces have been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants since they launched a campaign of bombings and shootings nearly two years ago. The militants have staged several attacks on foreign residents, government sites and energy-industry installations in the last two years.
Earlier this month security forces killed 15 suspected militants in the central Qasim province in the longest and bloodiest confrontation between government forces and militants since the outbreak of violence in May 2003.
