Saudi Arabia names Pakistani man as suicide bomber near US Consulate

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday identified the suicide bomber who struck outside the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah as a Pakistani resident of the kingdom who arrived 12 years ago to work as a driver.

The suicide bombing near the diplomatic post was the first of three targeting the kingdom on Monday, including one outside of the sprawling mosque grounds where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in the western city of Medina that killed four Saudi security troops and wounded five. Millions of Muslims from around the world visit the mosque every year as part of their pilgrimage to Mecca.

The governor of Mecca, Prince Faisal bin Salman, who is a son of King Salman, was shown on state television visiting security officers wounded in the Medina blast and the site of that explosion within hours of the blast.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Jiddah and Medina attacks, nor another at a Shiite mosque in the east of the country. The nature of the attacks and their apparently coordinated timing suggested the Islamic State group could be to blame.

An Interior Ministry statement issued on Tuesday identified the man behind the Jiddah attack as 34-year-old Abdullah Qalzar Khan. It said he lived in the port city with “his wife and her parents.” The statement didn’t elaborate.

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Image courtesy of Saudi Press Agency