Two people were killed and three wounded in an exchange of gunfire between Saudi security forces and rioters in Qatif Wednesday, a Ministry of Interior official source said Thursday. The source said shooting erupted Wednesday during the funeral of the two persons killed during a string of attacks earlier this week on security checkpoints in some areas of the Eastern Province. “A number of security checkpoints and vehicles in Qatif came under gunfire by those aggressors in an escalating way since last Monday, incited and dictated by foreign malicious plans,” said the source. The source also said that the security forces in those locations took the required measures under the circumstances showing restraint as far as possible. The incident resulted in the killing of two and injury to six, including a woman and two security personnel, he added. “These casualties have occurred due to the exchange of gunfire with unknown criminal elements who have infiltrated among citizens, and are firing from residential areas and narrow streets,” the source said. “The goal of those who provoke unrest is to achieve dubious aims dictated to them by their foreign masters.” The source said tires had been burned and roads blocked during the funeral that saw the most recent shootings, and said the ministry was ready to crack down. “It [the ministry] warns whoever deludes himself about violating order that he will be deterred strongly, and that the security forces in the area are fully authorized to deal with the situation and end these criminal actions.”
