The Saudi Interior Ministry announced Monday it has intercepted an ISIS cell during four simultaneous operations in the Saudi capital Riyadh and the eastern city of Dammam, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Monday. During the operations, two ISIS members were killed and three others were arrested. The ministry confirmed that the cell was linked to the suicide bomber behind the Abha mosque attack that took place in August. A suicide bomber killed 15 people at a mosque inside a special forces headquarters in the southern city. It also said that Saudi forces have arrested Faysal Hamed al-Ghamdi, a wanted ISIS member in Riyadh who had threatened to kill his father. The ministry added that Aqeel Ameesh al-Mutairy was killed during heavy clashes in Riyadh. Over the last few months, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out several attacks on mosques in the kingdom which killed dozens of people. ISIS controls swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria, and has claimed widespread abuses including the beheading of foreign hostages. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors last year joined a U.S.-led military coalition bombing ISIS in Syria, raising concerns about possible retaliation in the kingdom.
