Islamic State loyalists claim Saudi mosque attack

A group purporting to be a newly established Saudi affiliate of the Islamic State group says it is behind Friday’s attack on Shiite worshippers in the kingdom. In a statement distributed on IS-linked Twitter feeds, a group purporting to be the IS branch in Saudi Arabia issued the claim. It could not be independently confirmed if the new group has operational links to the Islamic State group, based in Syria and Iraq. The group’s statement carried a logo in Arabic referring to itself as the “Najd Province” — a reference to the historic region that is home to the capital Riyadh and the ruling Al Saud family, as well as the ultraconservative Wahhabi branch of Islam.

We don’t want a repeat of what is happening in Syria or Iraq here. This is our country and we love it.

Naseema Assada, a resident of Qatif

Naseema Assada, a resident of Qatif, said worshippers were celebrating the birth of revered Shiite Imam Hussein when the blast occurred. Residents had feared such an attack was coming, she said, because the government was failing to curb hate speech on social media against the Shiite community, which complains of marginalization. The attack could further harm relations between Sunnis and Shiites in the Gulf region, where tensions have risen during weeks of military operations in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition against Houthi fighters seen as proxies of regional Shiite power Iran.

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