JEDDAH: Two persons were killed and 26 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in Dahdah village in Najran on Monday evening.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said the attack took place at Al-Mashhad mosque in the village after Maghrib prayer when the worshippers were coming out after performing their prayers.

“A man, wearing an explosives belt, blew himself up killing one worshipper. Later another worshipper succumbed to his injuries. A number of other worshippers were injured,” he said. “They were immediately taken to nearby hospitals.”

Security personnel and Red Crescent and Civil Defense teams immediately reached the scene carrying out rescue operations.

A probe has been launched into the attack. The bomber also died in the attack. A letter was found in his car addressed to his parents.

Daesh, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter statement.

Roughly half of Najran’s population belongs to the Ismaili Shiite community. This is not the first time mosques have been targeted by bombers in the Kingdom.