Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince on Sunday visited security forces injured during a shootout with a suicide bomber who blew himself up near the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Mohammed bin Salman, also the deputy prime minister and minister of defence, visited the men on the first day of Eid Al Fitr at a hospital in Mecca.
The security forces were injured when the bomber detonated his explosives after a shoot-out at a three-storey house in Ajyad Al Masafi on Friday, causing the building to collapse. Six foreign pilgrims and five members of security forces were wounded, the interior ministry said.
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers had gathered for at the mosque for prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan.
The interior ministry earlier said it launched a raid around Jeddah, as well as two areas in Mecca itself, including the Ajyad Al Masafi neighbourhood near the Grand Mosque where the suicide bomber blew himself up. Five people were arrested, including a woman.
The Crown Prince, who was appointed by his father King Salman as heir to the kingdom last week, praised the injured men for their sacrifice and courage in protecting the Two Holy Mosques.
He was accompanied by minister of interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulazi and the commander of special emergency forces, Lt Gen Khalid Bin Qarar Al Harbi.
* Saudi Press Agency, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
