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10 Killed in Riyadh Car Bombing
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The
vehicle exploded at a protective barrier outside the security
headquarters
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RIYADH,
April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least ten people
were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday, April 21, in a car bombing
targeting a headquarters of the Saudi general security services in the
capital Riyadh, press reports said.
A
correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) said he saw numerous dead
and wounded as thick smoke poured from the front of the seven-storey
building, which is part of the security headquarters in Riyadh's
Al-Washm district.
Ambulance
workers picked up pieces of flesh, as the state television also showed
what appeared to be charred human remains.
Officials
could not provide an immediate casualty toll.
But
the Associated Press and Aljazeera put at ten the number of those killed
in the explosion.
Saudi
television network Al-Ekhbaria said the body of the bomber was found. It
gave no further details.
The
vehicle exploded around 14:00 (1100 GMT) at a protective barrier outside
the HQ, destroying dozens of other vehicles across the road, setting
fire to a nearby shop, damaging property and shattering windows over a
wide area.
"I
saw a car try to drive through the barrier," a witness said.
"Police
stopped it and the driver turned round and it blew up".
Security
forces sealed off the district as a fleet of ambulances, sirens wailing,
ferried off casualties. Helicopters hovered overhead.
A
series of bombings
against residential compounds in the capital killed 52 people in May and
November 2003.
Saudi
official said the bombings bore the hallmarks of the Al-Qaeda network
headed by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.
Fighting
'Terrorism'
Crown
Prince Abdullah vowed Tuesday, April 20, that the kingdom remained
determined to confront "terror", following repeated clashes
between security men and militants, and the discovery of five
explosive-laden cars in the past week.
He
was addressing a conference in Riyadh seeking scientific, educational
and psychological ways to curb "terrorism".
The
three-day meeting has attracted early 120 researchers and scholars from
around the world to examine "Islam's position on violence and
extremism".
Saudi
security forces discovered Monday, April 19, two cars laden with
explosives which were apparently to be used in a terror attack in the
capital, a security source said.
The
discovery brought to five the number of bobby-trapped cars seized in
Saudi Arabia within the past week.
An
interior ministry official announced Sunday the detention of eight
suspects linked to recent deadly clashes between militants and security
forces.
Security
forces on March 15, gunned down a Yemeni described as Al-Qaeda chief of
operations for Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf region.
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