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DUBAI: Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had arrested 46 members of a militant cell responsible for a deadly suicide bombing attack on the Prophet’s Mosque (Al Masjid an Nabawi) in the holy city of Medina last summer that was blamed on Islamic State.
The suspects, which included foreign and Saudi citizens, were detained in the Western port city of Jeddah, state news agency SPA quoted the interior ministry as saying.
According to some Arabic reports 32 of the arrested are Saudi citizens and the rest 14 are from Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Sudan.
Three suicide bombers and two members of the security forces were killed in the unprecedented attack on the mosque and tomb of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that is one of the religion’s holiest sites.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack nor did the interior ministry statement blame a specific group.
Islamic State, based in Iraq and Syria, has carried out a series of bombings and shootings in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 killing scores of people.
