Four Saudi officers were shot dead and four others wounded Thursday when their checkpoint came under gunfire in southern Asir province, according to reports citing information from the Saudi Press Agency and Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry.
Asir Province in Saudi Arabia.
According to reports, three officers were “instantly killed” when the outpost came under attack, the Saudi Press Agency reported, without specifying who was behind it.
“At around 12.45 a.m. on Thursday, a security checkpoint on Arqoub Road, linking Al-Majarida and Bariq governorates in the southern Asir region, came under gunfire from an unknown source,” according to the Saudi Gazette. “The dead are Sgt. Ahmed Ibrahim Asiri, Deputy Sgt. Abdullah Al-Shihri, and Deputy Sgt. Saleh Al-Amri.”
Gulf News reports that local authorities subsequently apprehended two suspects after a “massive manhunt,” who are Saudi nationals, then a third suspect opened fire as he tried to escape, killing the fourth officer and wounding four others.
“In the interest of the investigation, their names cannot be revealed,” the SPA reports.
According to Middle East Eye, Saudi media identified the third suspect as Bandar Mohammed Ali al-Shahri.
Asir province is in southern Saudi Arabia’s and has a short border with Yemen.
