Suicide bombing at Medina
July 05, 2016
Suicide bombers struck at one of Islam's holiest shrines on July 4, and suspicions turned immediately toward the Islamic State.
Three blasts occurred in Saudi Arabia on Monday, with two taking place at Islamic shrines: one at the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina; another at a mosque in Qatif. The third bombing was near the American consultate in Jeddah. Four guards were killed in Medina; only the bombers themselves died at the other sites.
The bombings took place near the end of Ramadan. Before the beginning of that month-long observance, Islamic State had suggested that zealots should "make it, with God's permission, a month of pain for infidels everywhere."
Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere denounced the bombings as an affront to their faith. The Hezbollah movement released a statement: "The explosions that targeted the holiest places at the holiest times, only prove terrorists' disrespect of Muslim sanctuaries, and their split from religion."
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