JEDDAH: A Saudi police officer was shot and killed late on Sunday in Najran, said Maj. Ibrahim bin Hasan, spokesman for the General Department of Narcotics Control.
The officer, named First Lt. Hussein Al-Qahtani, was shot in the back during an operation against drug smugglers. He died shortly after arriving in hospital.
Al-Qahtani was working with the General Department of Narcotics Control in Habona province, 130 kilometers north of Najran city.
The shooting is similar to one that occurred close to the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Saturday in which an officer was killed and another injured while apprehending a Saudi man who was in possession of drugs.
The officers stopped the suspect near the SAPTCO bus station and asked to see his identity card, suspecting he had illegal items in the bag he was carrying. The two officers found hashish and tried to arrest him at which the man took out a handgun and fired.
