Suspects killed in foiled Saudi Arabia 'terrorist attack'

Two suspected bombers were killed in shoot-out on Friday after Saudi security forces foiled their plans to detonate car bombs in the kingdom.

The alleged "terrorist attack" was thwarted when authorities closely monitored the two cars in the southwestern region of Aseer.

Rounds of fire were traded before a car chase led both parties to a road on the side of the desert where the suspects were eventually shot dead.

One of the explosives detonated during the ordeal, however security officials confirmed no further casualties were reported.

Investigations are ongoing to identify the two men, the source said.

On Thursday a small bomb exploded outside a highway patrol station in the al-Ahsa region of the kingdom.

Islamic State militants allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack in the Shia-majority eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

One officer was lightly wounded in the attack on the security centre while five vehicles were reportedly damaged.

The Islamic State group’s Saudi affiliate has conducted several attacks in the kingdom.

In February, a sticky bomb targeting Saudi armed forces in the capital was claimed by the group.

The kingdom’s Shia community has also suffered from the Islamic State group with numerous bombings targeting mosques in the predominantly-Shia eastern province.

Two gunmen wearing suicide bomb belts attacked the Imam Redha Mosque in the Mehasin neighbourhood, an area popular with Shia workers of state-run Aramco, the world's largest oil-producing firm in February.

The first attacker, identified by the authorities as 22-year-old Saudi national Abdul Rahman Abdullah Sulaiman al-Tuwaijri, detonated his explosives, while Egyptian Talha Hesham Mohamed Abdu opened fire on the worshippers during Friday prayers.

Four people were killed and 18 others injured in the assault.

In October 2015, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque in the Saudi city of Najran which killed two and injured 12.

More than 50 people have been killed in Islamic State attacks carried out across the kingdom since August 2014.