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Militants blow themselves up after gunfight with Saudi forces

 Militants blow themselves up after gunfight with Saudi forces

Saudi security forces. File photo.

Militants blow themselves up after gunfight with Saudi forces
Saudi security forces. File photo.

(Reuters) Two men accused of planning attacks against Saudi Arabia blew themselves up following a confrontation with security forces in the city of Jeddah on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

Saudi security forces surrounded a house in Jeddah’s eastern Al-Harazat district and exchanged fire with the men, who blew themselves up, an interior ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by state news agency SPA.

A Saudi man and his Pakistani wife alleged to have links to the men were arrested, the spokesman said.

Saudi-owned Arabiya TV showed footage of smoke rising above Jeddah and an explosion tearing through a building.

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombings and shootings in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority and security services.

Last year, a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, the first bombing in years to target foreigners in the kingdom.

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