Ashoura attack kills five
November 4, 2014
Police in Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that five people were killed and another nine injured in a shooting by masked gunmen late Monday. The attack occurred in the eastern al-Ahsa, where many of the country's minority Shiites live.
A statement from the Interior Ministry on Tuesday reported that six suspects had been arrested in connection with the shooting.
A police statement quoted by Germany's dpa news agency said three gunmen approached a Shiite shrine after exiting a car and began firing automatic weapons and pistols.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency, witnesses say they entered the shrine where Ashoura ceremonies were taking place and opened fire.
Activists say the Shiite minority suffers discrimination at the hands of the government, a claim the government denies. In neighboring Iraq, Shiites are frequently targeted and killed by members of the "Islamic State" group.
Ashoura marks the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala (in present-day Iraq) in the 7th century.
mz/mkg (AFP, AP, dpa)