RIYADH: Nineteen people, including 12 Pakistani nationals, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia following suicide attacks on Monday, including one near Islam's second-holiest site in the city of Medina, the kingdom's Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Seven people are believed to have been killed and two wounded in three separate attacks — in Medina, at a mosque in Qatif, and in western Jeddah, the economic capital, not far from the US consulate.
A 26-year-old Saudi man, Naer Moslem Hammad al-Balawi, who had a "history of drug use" had been identified as the perpetrator of the Medina attack, the ministry said in a statement.
The Qatif attack, it added, was carried out by three "terrorists," including one man named as Abderrahman Saleh Mohammed al-Amr, 23, who it said was known to the security services for taking part in protests. Other terrorists were identified as Ibrahim Saleh, 20, and Abdul Karim Muhammad Husaini
The Qatif attackers were Saudi nationals however they had never obtained the Saudi national identity card, the ministry said.
The Jeddah attacker was a Pakistani man identified as Abdullah Qalzar Khan, a driver who had been living in the city for 12 years, the ministry said earlier.
Four people were killed in the Medina explosion near the Holy Prophet's Mosque, which came as Muslims prepared for this week's Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramazan.
The body parts of three people were found after another suicide bombing in the Shiite-populated Gulf city of Qatif, the ministry said earlier.
Two police officers were wounded the Jeddah attack. The US embassy in Riyadh reported no casualties among consulate staff during the attack, which coincided with the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister, said while visiting the wounded policemen in Jeddah that the attacks would "only increase our solidarity and make us stronger."
No group has claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks so far. However, a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Daesh (Islamic State group) in Saudi Arabia since late 2014 has killed dozens. Most attacks have taken place in Eastern Province.
Daesh group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks against Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the militants in Syria and Iraq.
Militant attacks on Medina are unprecedented. The city is home to the second most sacred site in Islam, a mosque built in the 7th century by the Holy Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), which also houses his tomb.
King Salman, in a speech on Tuesday marking Eid al-Fitr, said a major challenge facing Saudi Arabia was preserving hope for youth who faced the risk of radicalization.
Salman said his country would strike with an "iron hand" against people who preyed on youth vulnerable to religious extremism.