Saudi Arabia Arrests 46 Suspects Including Afghans over Medina Bombing

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 in the holy city of Medina last year that was blamed on Islamic State. The suspects, who included foreign and Saudi citizens, were detained in the Western port city of Jeddah, state news agency SPA quoted the interior ministry as saying. Saudi Arabia Interior Ministry Spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki told reporters on Sunday that 32 of those arrested were Saudis, while the 14 others were from Egypt, Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and Jordan. Reuters reported that 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, mostly members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority and security services.