SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi troops killed seven gunmen in a protracted siege in the northern town of Al-Ras, where gun battles raged for a second day with suspected Islamic militants, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.
A ministry statement said an eighth militant was critically wounded and a number of members of the security forces were injured, though most had been released from hospital.
Security sources earlier said eight militants were killed.
"Security forces are continuing mop-up [ operations] at the site," it said about one of the longest and bloodiest battles in Saudi Arabia's two-year confrontation with al-Qaeda supporters.
Hospital officials said 51 security personnel had been treated by noon on Monday.
Ministry spokesman Brig-Gen Mansour al-Turki earlier said the stand-off in Al-Ras, 300km (180 miles) northwest of Riyadh, was still continuing after more than 24 hours.
He said the suspected militants, holed up in a complex in the town's Jawazat neighbourhood, had hurled hand grenades at security forces.
The battle erupted early on Sunday when security forces tried to raid a house where the suspects were staying. Witnesses said the house was secured by yesterday morning but gunfire had erupted from a nearby building.
"They were asked to surrender, but those people are known not to listen," local governor Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul-Aziz told state television on Sunday, describing the gunmen as "terrorists".
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of oil, has battled supporters of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network since May 2003, when the militants launched a campaign of violence against Saudi and western targets.
Al-Ras is in the conservative Qassim province, the heartland of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi doctrine that some critics say has fuelled intolerance and anti-western violence. - (Reuters)