RIYADH: A suspect in the murder of a police officer in the southern region of Asir has confessed to be a member of the Daesh international terror network, the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.
In a statement posted on the MOI website, a spokesman said the Yemeni suspect ran over Corporal Muthhel Al-Saluli and stabbed him to death on August 10, 2016, as the officer was leaving a mosque where he attended dawn prayers.
The attack happened in Azizia district of Bisha governorate.
Police arrested the suspect on the same day and during interrogation he admitted killing Al-Saluli “because he is a security official,” the spokesman said.
A report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Saturday quoted the ministry as saying the suspect admitted having “pledged allegiance to the Daesh group.”
Six other Yemenis suspected of links to the incident have been arrested, said the statement.
Daesh has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, shootings, and assassinations targeting members of the security forces and the kingdom’s Shiite minority since 2014.
Last July 4, Daesh terrorists launched a wave of terror attacks in the cities of Madinah, Jeddah and Qatif.
In the Jeddah attack, an attacker managed to kill only himself as he exploded his suicide vest at a parking lot near the US Consulate when alert security officers confronted him.
In Qatif, two suicide bombers who targeted Shiite mosques also managed to kill only themselves.
In Madinah, four policemen were killed and several others wounded when a terrorist exploded his suicide vest as he was invited to join the officers in taking their Ramadan iftar meal.
Saudi Arabia has been part of the US-led coalition that is fighting the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria.
Saudi political and religious leaders routinely denounce Daesh attacks — at home and abroad — as violations of Islam.
In a statement posted on the MOI website, a spokesman said the Yemeni suspect ran over Corporal Muthhel Al-Saluli and stabbed him to death on August 10, 2016, as the officer was leaving a mosque where he attended dawn prayers.
The attack happened in Azizia district of Bisha governorate.
Police arrested the suspect on the same day and during interrogation he admitted killing Al-Saluli “because he is a security official,” the spokesman said.
A report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Saturday quoted the ministry as saying the suspect admitted having “pledged allegiance to the Daesh group.”
Six other Yemenis suspected of links to the incident have been arrested, said the statement.
Daesh has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, shootings, and assassinations targeting members of the security forces and the kingdom’s Shiite minority since 2014.
Last July 4, Daesh terrorists launched a wave of terror attacks in the cities of Madinah, Jeddah and Qatif.
In the Jeddah attack, an attacker managed to kill only himself as he exploded his suicide vest at a parking lot near the US Consulate when alert security officers confronted him.
In Qatif, two suicide bombers who targeted Shiite mosques also managed to kill only themselves.
In Madinah, four policemen were killed and several others wounded when a terrorist exploded his suicide vest as he was invited to join the officers in taking their Ramadan iftar meal.
Saudi Arabia has been part of the US-led coalition that is fighting the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria.
Saudi political and religious leaders routinely denounce Daesh attacks — at home and abroad — as violations of Islam.
