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6 killed as blast rips through Saudi Shiite mosque

Xinhua, May 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Six worshippers were killed and several others injured in a suicide blast that targeted a Shiite mosque in the eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday, Al Arabiya News reported.

As many as 150 Shiite worshipers were inside "Imam Ali" Mosque in Qudaih area of the Saudi city of Qatif when the blast went off.

Several Twitter accounts for the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the blast.

An interior ministry spokesman said an investigation has been launched into the incident and that more details will follow.

Last November, three masked gunmen killed five Shiites and injured nine others in the eastern town of Aldaloh in Ahsa Governorate.

Saudi authorities arrested six suspects in connection with November's attack.

Most of Saudi Arabia's minority Shiites live in the eastern region, where they have long protested against marginalisation in the Sunni-dominated kingdom.

Saudi security authorities have been involved in a war against internal terror and extremism. Terror cells linked to the IS have been recently dismantled. Endit