ABHA, 12 March 2008 — A 22-year-old soldier shot dead a teenager and injured two others with a machine gun in Khamis Mushayt in the southern Asir Region yesterday.
“The soldier has been arrested and he’s admitted what he’s done. He fired 17 shots in total,” Col. Abdullah Al-Qarni, spokesman for Asir police, told Arab News.
Meanwhile, an Indian worker was found dead in his car having been stabbed several times in his stomach and on his neck.
Al-Qarni said that the shooting incident took place at 2 p.m. “We’re investigating the Indian expatriate’s murder which took place around 11 a.m.,” he added.
A high number of murders have been reported from the Khamis Mushayt area lately as a result of tribal conflicts and widespread access to weapons. In 2006, authorities investigated three murders that took place within 24 hours.
Al-Qarni said local police regularly seize unauthorized weapons and fine their owners. He said frequent cases of murderers evading execution by paying blood money might be one of the reasons for the high incidence of violence in the region.
