Saudi Arabia detains 13 for planning 'terrorist acts'

RIYADH

Saudi Arabia has detained 13 citizens for allegedly planning to carry out “terrorist acts” in the kingdom.

In a Monday statement, the Saudi State Security Agency said the arrests were carried out only hours after gunmen attacked a police station in capital Riyadh.

According to the security agency, the attack’s perpetrators belong to the Daesh terrorist group.

On Sunday, four attackers were killed -- and three policemen injured -- in a foiled attack on a police station in a northern district of Riyadh.

The following day, Daesh claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

In a video posted by the Daesh-linked Amaq news agency, the notorious terrorist group said the attack had been carried out “in revenge for the Muslims imprisoned in the [Saudi] kingdom, Syria and Iraq”.

According to the Saudi authorities, the perpetrators of Sunday’s attack attempted to storm the police station before being gunned down by security forces.

Last July, Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack on a security checkpoint in Saudi Arabia’s central Al-Qassim region that left a policeman and a foreign resident dead.