Deadly attack rocks mosque in Saudi Arabia

Pictures shared on social media purport to show people running away from the mosque attack. (Al Arabiya)

At least four people killed and 18 wounded after attack on a Shia mosque in al-Ahsa, says Interior Ministry.

At least four people were killed and 18 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry has said.

Saudi authorities prevented two suicide bombers from entering Imam Rida Mosque in Mahasen neighbourhood in the al-Ahsa region during Friday prayers, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing a statement by the ministry's spokesman.

"When security men stopped them, one blew himself up at the entrance of the mosque and there was an exchange of fire with the other. He was wounded and arrested wearing an explosive belt," the spokesman said.

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No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

In late October, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Najran city, in which at least one person was killed and 16 others were injured.

ISIL had also claimed responsibility for an attack at a mosque inside a special forces headquarters in the city of Abha in early August.

Fifteen people were killed and nine were wounded in that attack.

Shia make up some ten to 15 percent of Saudi Arabia's population. The minority group, many of whom live in the country's oil-producing east, previously have been targeted in attacks by ISIL, which views them as heretics.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies