Saudi Clerics Call for Public Mobilization to Provide Security in Qatif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Muslim scholars in Qatif governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province called for the mobilization of young people to ensure security in the district after a recent terrorist attack on a Shiite mosque that killed at least 21 people.
"Since others (the Saudi government) cannot protect us, we should assume the responsibility ourselves," the Saudi clerics stated on Saturday at the end of their demonstration against the deadly terrorist attack on Imam Ali (PBUH) Mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, Qatif district.
They further emphasized that Saudi people in the district should mobilize and selflessly "move on the path of God without expecting material gains and power" and regard Iraqi volunteer forces as their role model.
The remarks came as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group claimed in an online statement that it carried out the deadly suicide bomb attack.
The statement said "the soldiers of the Caliphate" were behind Friday's attack by a suicide bomber "who detonated an explosives belt" in the mosque in the Shiite-majority city of Qatif.
The group identified the bomber as Abu Amer al-Najdi, and published a picture of him.
Earlier on Friday, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement that a suicide bomber had set off an explosion during weekly prayers at a Shiite mosque, leaving at least 21 dead.