This Article is From Jul 09, 2014

Saudi Arabia Says its Own Citizens Behind Border Assault

Saudi Arabia Says its Own Citizens Behind Border Assault

A Yemeni soldier poses for a photo after the army took control of a major Al-Qaeda stronghold Azzan in the southern province of Shabwa, on May 8, 2014.

Riyadh: Saudi citizens belonging to Al-Qaeda were behind an attack near Yemen last week that killed five soldiers and left five Saudi militants dead, the kingdom said on Wednesday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki said an investigation revealed that six Saudi men who were on a wanted list took part in Friday's attack on a Saudi border post. Al-Turki said in a statement released yesterday that one of the men was arrested and the others killed.

Another, unidentified militant died in a suicide blast on the Yemeni side of the border that killed a soldier, Yemen's state news agency has reported.

Yemen is home to one of the most active branches of al-Qaida, and many of its members are Saudi nationals.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in Saudi Arabia today and was received by Crown Prince Salman.

He is scheduled to meet with King Abdullah, the agency reported. Friday's attack erupted when a suicide car bomber struck the Yemeni side of the border post in the al-Wadia area, killing one Yemeni soldier.

The militants then fled in two cars toward Saudi Arabia and opened fire on soldiers, killing four Saudi border guards. The Saudi Interior Ministry said three militants were killed in the attack.

Shortly after, two of the suspected al-Qaida militants fled to an empty government building in the kingdom's southwestern province of Sharora where they blew themselves up early Saturday after security forces surrounded them inside. No other people were wounded in the incident, the Interior Ministry said.

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