Daesh in Saudi Arabia: When terrorists bite hand that feeds

by Tauqeer Abbas
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Shafaqna Pakistan: Saudi Arabia says it has foiled a terror attack in Riyadh this week that was carried by four members of the Daesh terrorist group, the Takfiri outfit that has long received financial and political support from the kingdom.

On Sunday, Saudi security agents killed four heavily armed attackers who tried to infiltrate the Interior Ministry building in Zulfi, north of capital Riyadh on Sunday.

The attackers wounded three security guards before being gunned down by Saudi forces.

The Daesh terror group claimed responsibility for the botched attack in its propaganda outlet, Amaq.

Saudis used all their media prowess to downplay the attack but the fact that Daesh is now biting the hands that used to feed it is too big to ignore.

The Al-Khaleej Online news site blamed Daesh’s presence and the growing instability in the country on the Al Saud family’s repressive policies and its support for the Daesh terrorist group in the first place.

The website noted that while Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been leading Saudi Arabia with an “iron fist” since rising to power in 2015, “armed groups have been able to carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia similar to those that have just occurred.”

“After the merger of two branches of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Yemen under the name of” al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQPA) “in January 2009, and the escalation of tensions in Iraq and Syria, Daesh was born and quickly outpaced his godfather in terms of extremism, so much so in Saudi Arabia began to appreciate his course of action, “said al-Khaleej Online.

Daesh has so far carried out several deadly attacks against Saudi security forces, military and civilians alike.

In August 2015, an explosion rocked a mosque in Abha, southern Saudi Arabia, killing around 15 people.

In October that year, a Daesh element opened fire on worshipers at a mosque in Saihat, a city in the Qatif governorate. Five people lost their lives and nine others were injured as a result of the attack.

The report then discusses Riyadh’s attempt to form a “police government” as a solution to control security loopholes and eradicate what it calls terrorist groups.

As a result of this policy, Saudi rulers have reinforced their grip over the political and legal branches of the government, cracking down on a large number of royals and dissidents to minimize the chance of a challenge to their rule.

“Whenever opposition voices challenged the Saudi government’s internal and external policies, it launched a purge or arrest campaign. Saudi security services monitored activists and militants by spying on them through their phones. The same services also controlled opponents of the Saudi government living abroad,” the report further states.

Perhaps ill-fated journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was brutally murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October, was the prime example of the Saudi police government at work.

There are gorwing evidence that Khahsoggi murder was a hit job directly ordered by bin Salman.

The purge has gone on to include seasoned security and military officers and experienced officials close to former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was deposed by bin Salman and his father, King Salman, in 2017.

This has given way to more insecurity and instability in the kingdom, which is already knee-deep in trouble abroad, trying to contain the damage from Khashoggi’s murder and the quagmire that is bin Salman’s years-long war on Yemen.

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