Saudi security forces have foiled a terror plot targeting the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca after a suspect blew himself up after a gunfight.
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said security forces exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects, who blew himself up inside a home he was hiding in yesterday.
Five people, including a woman, were arrested in security operations in Mecca, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said.
The Interior Ministry added that the attack on the mosque was being planned by three terrorist groups, two based in Mecca and a third in Jeddah.
Al-Arabiya said a suicide bomber hiding in a house in the Ajyad al-Masafi neighborhood of Mecca opened fire on security forces and later blew himself up on the eve of Ramadan.
Five security forces members and six other people – the latter all foreigners – were injured in the attack.
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