DAMMAM — Two Saudi policemen were killed in the Eastern Province on Wednesday after unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, the Interior Ministry said.
The predawn attack happened near a farm in the Saihat area of Qatif, the Saudi Press Agency said quoting an Interior Ministry spokesman.
"At one o'clock in the morning a security patrol in the governorate of Qatif came under fire from an unknown source," the spokesman said.
He said the suspect or suspects in the "terrorist crime" had not immediately been identified and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Hussein Al-Nemr, who lives in the area, said the shooting happened near a highway checkpoint.
It is the latest incident in Eastern Province as police continue to hunt suspects on a list of 23 wanted people issued in 2011 for causing trouble in the streets. Many suspects on the wanted list have already been detained or killed in shootouts.
Last week, two Indian passersby and a policeman were wounded when officers came under fire from a farming area in Qatif.
In early October, gunfire erupted in the town of Awamiya in Qatif governorate, after police sealed it off with armored vehicles. Police seized a large amount of ammunition during a search of a farming area there, the Interior Ministry said.
If the attack on the policemen on Wednesday is linked to the hunt for suspects on the wanted list, then there could be a heavy crackdown.
But if it were an attempt at Daesh (the so-called IS) infiltration, people fear it could indicate another deadly assault plot, he said, citing previous terrorist attacks in the region.
"We hope (it was) neither," Nemr said. — SG/Agencies
