Dammam shia mosque was targeted by a suicide bomber on 29 May during Friday prayers.
Dammam shia mosque was targeted by a suicide bomber on 29 May during Friday prayers.Twitter/@alzahir_ma

The Islamic State (Isis) militants have taken responsibility for the attack at the Imam Hussein mosque in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, which was targeted by a suicide bomber during Friday prayers. 

The Saudi interior ministry claimed that four people, including the bomber were killed in the attack on the Shia mosque on Friday, while five were injured.

A Saudi social media report identified one of those killed in the blast as Abduljalil Juma. And the security personnel, who foiled the attack has been identified as Saeed al-Arbash.

The blast took place at the parking lot near the Imam al-Hussein Mosque in the Saudi city of Dammam. A Reuters report stated that the security personnel became suspicious of a car parked near the mosque and as they approached the driver, the suicide bomber blew up the vehicle.

It is possible that the suicide bomber may have been waiting for the Friday prayers to get over to carry out the attack.

An image posted on social media showed Friday worshippers attending to a visibly injured man lying on the ground near the explosion site.

The Reuters report citing an eyewitness identified as Ahmed noted that "a quick explosion" took place near the mosque. The eyewitness said a security personnel, who refused to let the suicide bomber inside the building, was killed in the blast.

A widely shared image on Twitter shows the Saudi security personnel inspecting the blast site,  with the remains of the alleged suicide bomber lying near the car's wreckage.

A video posted on Twitter claims that the blast took place minutes after the Imam of the mosque started delivering the Friday sermon. 

Commenting on the failed Dammam suicide attack, Ala'a Shehabi of Bahrainwatch.org noted on Twitter: "This could have been a massacre worse than last weeks terrorist attack had the bomber reached inside the mosque.

An Isis affiliate account on Twitter has claimed responsibility for the Friday's attack on Dammam mosque. The Isis Twitter account revealed the name of the suicide bomber as Abu Jandal Ajjazrawi.

This would be the second time in less than a week a Shia mosque has been targeted by the Isis militants in the predominantly Sunni kingdom. 

The attack comes days after a suicide bomber attacked the Shia-Imam Ali Mosque in al-Qadeeh, a village located in Saudi Arabia's eastern Qatif province, on 22 May.

It occurred when worshippers were celebrating the birth anniversary of Imam Hussein, an important figure in Islam revered by Shiites. Reports state that the bomber stood with the worshippers during their prayers and then detonated a suicide vest that had been hidden beneath his clothing as they exited the mosque.

Dammam Mosque Bomb Blast Video

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