Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat– In a barrage of gunfire and explosions, Saudi special forces overran a seaside villa in this eastern Saudi city Tuesday where Islamic militants were surrounded, ending three days of fighting with all extremists killed.

Asharq al Awsat has learnt that ten militants had been holed up in the villa since Sunday two of which were killed when they set of their explosives belts after being surrounded by security forces. Reports have indicated that Fahd al Faraj and Sultan al Haseri, two of the most-wanted terrorists in Saudi Arabia were amongst the dead.

Three charred corpses were to the city’s hospital as the operation to sift through the debris continued.

Policemen combing the wreckage found a number of unexploded bombed they detonated in a controlled explosion.

They used heavy machinery to examine the villa for any clues which is in endanger of collapse after it was heavily shelled

Sources told Asharq al Awsat the militants intended on committing suicide after being caught out by the security forces as their would be no longer able to carry out any activity.

Security officials indicated that the cordon had been progressively tightened as special forces hoped the militants holed inside the villa would surrender. At the start of the siege, armed officers were observing a ceasefire every 15 minutes to allow the militants to collect themselves and concentrated their efforts on bombing the villa to frighten the extremists.

After security officials realized the extremists did not intend to give themselves up, the focus shifted to catching them alive. The mission was hampered by the large number of weapons and ammunitions at the militants” disposal.

According to informed sources, the operation to clear out the rubble would continue during Wednesday and that the police expected to find more bodies in the basement of the villa where most of the weapons were stored. Identifying the corpses is complicated by the decomposed state of some bodies and will require lengthy medical examination.

Sources told Asharq al Awsat that the location of the building indicates the militant cell intended on living in the Mubarakiya district for some time as it prepared for a terrorist operation the target of which remains unknown.

The difficulty of carrying out a terrorist attack in the Kingdom can be attributed to tightened security and the cell’s inability to get hold of explosives, said the sources.

A statement issued by the Interior Ministry confirmed the end of the confrontation in seaside neighborhood in Dammam, which had been ongoing since Sunday and added that specialist forces were examining the wreckage for clues. Four policemen were killed in the clashes and 10 were hurt with a range of injuries.