Thousands attend funeral of slain Saudi Shias

Thousands of mourners have attended the funeral of a group of Shia Muslims recently killed in a deadly attack on a religious ceremony in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

Mourners from across Saudi Arabia and neighboring Bahrain poured into al-Dalwah town in al-Ahsa Governorate of Eastern Province on Friday.

Mourners carried photos of those killed in the attack and called for unity between Sunnis and Shias.

“Sunnis and Shias, we are brothers! We shall not abandon our homeland,” chanted the mourners.

On Monday night, masked gunmen stormed a mourning procession marking Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam, in al-Dalwah, and opened fire as people were observing Ashura, the 10th day of the lunar month of Muharram.
Seven Shia mourners, including children, were killed in the terrorist attack.

Another person had been also gunned down by the assailants in a neighboring village as they hijacked his car to use it in the attack.

Saudi authorities have accused al-Qaeda militants of the attack.

The assault on Shia mourners comes as Saudi officials themselves show zero tolerance toward anti-government demonstrations in the oil-rich kingdom, and have harshly cracked down on such protests.

International human rights organizations have criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to address the rights situation in the kingdom. They say Saudi Arabia has persistently implemented repressive policies that stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Activists say there are over 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.