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Saudi Arabia Says It Dismantled ISIS Cell in Capital Planning Attack on Ministry

The Saudi government said Thursday that it had dismantled an ISIS cell in Riyadh connected to a plot to launch a suicide attack on the Defense Ministry.
Image: A Damaged Vehicle is Seen Following a Raid by Saudi Security Forces on an Islamic State Cell in Riyadh
A damaged vehicle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday after a raid by Saudi security forces on an ISIS cell.Saudi Press Agency / Reuters
/ Source: Reuters

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Saudi government said Thursday that it had dismantled an ISIS cell in the capital, Riyadh, in connection with a plot to launch a suicide attack on the Defense Ministry.

Two militants were killed and five others were arrested in raids on three locations on Wednesday, an official of the newly created Presidency of State Security said in a statement on state-run television.

Image: Saudi raid on ISIS
Explosives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday after Saudi security forces dismantled an ISIS cell.Saudi Press Agency / Reuters

ISIS has mounted deadly bombing and shooting attacks against security forces and Shiite Muslims in Saudi Arabia. ISIS for years has criticized the leadership of the Western-allied kingdom, the world's top oil exporter, accusing it of deviating from its strict interpretation of Islam and advancing the interests of its U.S. enemies.

Thursday's statement said a suicide bomber in the eastern Riyadh district of al-Rimal detonated his vest after security forces surrounded a house used to manufacture suicide vests and explosives.

Security forces killed another militant after he holed up with firearms in an apartment in the western district of al-Namar, it said.

The third raid was at a horse stable in the southern suburb of al-Ghanamia, which the statement said had been used as a headquarters.

Image: Saudi raid on ISIS
A damaged vehicle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday after a raid by Saudi security forces on an ISIS cell.Saudi Press Agency / Reuters

Security forces seized firearms and bomb-making materials, which were shown on state television along with a burned-out car and a damaged building where the first militant had blown himself up.

The suspects weren't identified.