Bomb blast at Saudi Shia mosque kills at least five in Ahsa

bomb and shooting attack at a Shia mosque in the region of al-Ahsa

Five people are reportedly killed in a bomb and shooting attack at a Shia mosque in the region of al-Ahsa, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, which has a Shia-majority population.

Some ten people are also said to have been wounded in the attacks, which targeted the Imam Redha Mosque in the town of Mahasen in al-Ahsa.

Reports cited witnesses as saying that an explosion was followed by shooting.

An eyewitness said the explosion happened outside the mosque, at the courtyard of the mosque, while another terrorist entered with a machine gun.

Towns and cities in the Shia-dominated Eastern Province have been the site of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. People have been voicing their protest at Riyadh’s suppressive policies against the country’s Shia minority.