ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday condemned a suicide bomb blast in the Saudi port city of Jeddah in which four people, one of them from Pakistan, were wounded.
The man, later identified as Abdullah bin Zayed al-Shehri, wanted by security agencies, killed himself with an explosive belt to avoid arrest, the kingdom said a day earlier.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency said as security forces moved in on him Wednesday in f Jeddah, al-Shehri detonated the bomb belt. It identified the wounded as a Pakistan national and three security officials.
“The government and people of Pakistan reiterate their full support for and deep solidarity with the leadership, government and brotherly people of Saudi Arabia against any threats to the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Seperately, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the bombing and praised Riyadh’s “firm action” against any threat that undermines its security.
SPA offered no details on al-Shehri’s background, nor if he belonged to any known extremist group. However, Middle East Eye said the slain man was a suspected member of the so-called Islamic State militant group.
The kingdom has battled al-Qaeda and IS militants.
— With AP
