RIYADH: The Interior Ministry has seized 281 Kalashnikov rifles, 55 boxes of ammunition and 250 magazines from a rest house located in the outskirts of Riyadh.
Investigators interrogating a cell of 44 Al-Qaeda-linked militants discovered the hideaway. “Interrogations led us to the hideaway. The weapons were found hidden under half a meter of concrete,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.
He added that investigations are ongoing.
The 44 militants’ arrest was announced in August following yearlong raids across the Kingdom. The Interior Ministry also announced then that the cell sought to recruit youths and financed their activities through charitable donations.
Forty-three of those arrested are Saudi nationals and received weapons training in both the Kingdom and abroad. Some also received explosives training. Others received training in counterfeiting documents and identity cards. Their ages ranged between 20 and 60.
A previous Interior Ministry statement said that 17 Kalashnikov rifles, 50 other types of machine guns, 42 cases of ammunition and 96 remote electronic detonators were also seized. The detonators were located underground in two remote areas — one in the suburbs of Qassim and the other in a valley near Riyadh.
The identities of those arrested have not been revealed. However, Al-Turki said the men included some individuals with technical qualifications and others with advanced university degrees.
None of those arrested figures in the list of 85 wanted militants issued in February.
Investigations showed that some of the suspects were in contact with senior Al-Qaeda commanders outside the Kingdom. Some were also in contact with local Al-Qaeda operatives killed in recent clashes with security forces.
It was also disclosed that the suspects took advantage of charity works to plan terror attacks in the country. Some of those arrested used their own money to finance their operations.
Al-Turki said that the danger of terror still exists and that terrorists are trying to reorganize and revive terror outfits.
