World

Suicide Attack Carried out Near US Diplomatic Site in Saudi

A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near a U.S. diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, according to state-linked Saudi news sites.

Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the U.S. consulate in Jiddah. Most of the consulate’s staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the bombing.

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near a U.S. diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, according to state-linked Saudi news sites.

Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the U.S. consulate in Jiddah. Most of the consulate’s staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the bombing.

U.S. Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment. A State Department spokesperson, who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jiddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the heavily guarded compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.

Read More: ABC News 

Image courtesy of AFP/Getty

About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In