Devices along with money and pistols, said to be seized by Saudi security forces after arresting suspected Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, are seen in this handout photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), on September 28, 2015. (Reuters/HO/SPA)
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi security forces arrested three members of a cell suspected of belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, in coordinated counterterrorism raids in the capital Riyadh and the eastern city of Dammam.
Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said on Monday the men were planning to carry out four coordinated attacks in the Kingdom, preparation for which had reached a very advanced stage.
Explosive materials and suicide bomber belts were found at one of the homes raided by security forces which authorities said was functioning as a “bomb-making factory.”
According to an Interior Ministry statement two other suspects were killed during the raids, which took place 13 days ago.
The men were linked to a terror attack in August which killed 17 people at a mosque inside a Saudi Special Forces headquarters in the southern city of Abha.
Turki added that authorities were continuing to monitor other potential attacks being planned in Saudi Arabia by operatives associated with ISIS and the cell.
Meanwhile, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned from an informed source that one of the arrested suspects, Fahd Bin Falah Suleiman Al-Harbi, thought to be the leader of the cell, had also engaged in recruiting young Saudi men to join ISIS.
Another member of the cell, Aqeel Bin Ameesh Al-Mutairi, who was killed during the raids, was on most wanted lists in the Kingdom. He had previously been repatriated from Iraq and imprisoned for five years.
ISIS has carried out a number of terror attacks on Saudi soil during the past year. Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition targeting the group in Iraq and Syria, where it holds considerable swaths of territory.