Saudi forces kill 7 Islamic militants
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-05 09:44

Security forces battled the biggest group of Islamic militants in a nearly two-year campaign against terror, killing seven in a gunbattle Monday and cornering up to 10 others in an isolated desert town, Saudi officials said.

The forces were besieging the building in which the remaining militants were holed up and hoped to take them alive, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki said.

Two of Saudi Arabia's most wanted militants have been killed by security forces in a series of clashes in the northern town of Al-Ras, Al Arabiya television said on April 4, 2005. The Saudi-owned channel named the two men as Abdulkarim al-Mejjati and Saud Homoud al-Oteibi. Both were on a list of 26 most wanted militant suspects published by the Saudi government in December 2003.[Reuters]

During the two-day gunbattle, police had to seal off a girls' elementary school in ar-Rass, central Saudi Arabia, 220 miles northwest of the capital. When the fighting quieted, the teachers and students were evacuated, al-Turki said.

Al-Turki said the security forces did not intend to flush out the militants soon.

"As long as there are no hostages involved, there's no reason to rush. We have no problem in giving the operation as much time as it needs," he said, adding that the militants were well armed and appeared to have plenty of ammunition.

The death toll is the highest since the kingdom's own "war on terror" began in May 2003. A number of security forces personnel have been wounded.

Saudi policemen check vehicles at a checkpoint in ar-Rass, 220 miles (355 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Monday, April 4, 2005 where seven suspected al-Qaida militants were killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces. [AP]

Al-Turki said up to 10 extremists were believed to be in the building, "the largest number of militants cornered in any single operation."

The Interior Ministry said the seven killed so far were suspected to be members of the al-Qaida terror group, led by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden. Al-Turki said the government did not know the militants' allegiance.

"We consider any terrorist to be linked somehow to al-Qaida, affected by it or sympathizing with it. But we still do not have a breakdown of the identities of those killed or those still holed up," al-Turki said.

The battle began Sunday morning when security forces, acting on a tip, arrived at a building in ar-Rass' Jawazat district. Militants opened fire with automatic rifles and grenades.

Three militants were killed. The remainder fled to a nearby building that is under construction, where the fighting continued Monday.

Saudi television showed video of the frightened schoolgirls who were evacuated, some looking disoriented, others crying. Parents who collected the children condemned the militants.

The authorities also evacuated residents of a nearby building.

Ar-Rass is near Buraydah, a known stronghold of Islamic fundamentalists in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has suffered numerous Islamic militant attacks since May 2003, when suicide bombers attacked three compounds for foreign residents in Riyadh. Police arrested hundreds of suspects in the subsequent crackdown.

The authorities, who have tended to blame al-Qaida for the attacks, issued a list of the country's 26 most wanted militants. All but five on the list have been arrested or killed. It is not known whether any of the militants killed in ar-Rass are on the list.

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