What looked to be a stretch of near immunity in the Kingdom from terrorist acts against the state has clearly come to an end. The death of security officer Amer Al-Shuwaish at a checkpoint in Jazan province near the border with Yemen is clear evidence that Al-Qaeda must still be dealt with as a murderous force that has no limits in terms of what it will do and who it will kill to further its deviant goals. Al-Shuwaish stopped a car carrying three men, two of who were dressed in women's clothing in order to conceal explosives belts, according to the Interior Ministry. As the men got out of the car, they opened fire on the officer and his colleagues. Two of the terrorists were killed and one was arrested. Al-Shuwaish, of course, will go down in history as the martyr that he is, having selflessly given his life in the cause of keeping Saudi Arabia safe from terrorism. What must be done, however, to ensure that no more young men must be martyred, that no more men be taken from their families and loved ones at the hands of deviant murderers seeking to impose chaos as a path to imposing their deviant ideology on our people. Only Yemen can solve its internal problems that have allowed Al-Qaeda to take refuge there. Saudi Arabia, however, must provide whatever support it can to the incumbent government there in order to help bring those internal conflicts to an end. The Kingdom must also continue to beef up its border security to make it clear that all attempts to smuggle arms and explosives into the Kingdom will end badly for the smugglers. There will be causalities. The martyr Amer Al-Shuwaish is a tragic reminder of that. But the more men made available to secure the border with Yemen, the less likely it will be that our forces must be martyred in the fight against terrorism. __
