Riyadh Says Foiled ‘Terrorist Attack’ on Grand Mosque in Mecca

Saudi Arabia said police foiled on Friday a “terrorist action” against Islam’s holiest site, where millions of faithful from around the world have gathered.

Citing the Ministry of the Interior, the state Al-Ekhbaria news channel said 11 people were injured in the collapse of a three-storey building where a suicide bomber had barricade himself and exploded. Five of the injured were police.

Al-Arabiya said security forces had found two groups of terrorists in Mecca and a third group in the city of Jeddah. Al-Arabiya said a man wanted by Saudi authorities was shot dead and several others were arrested in Mecca.

Video showed what appeared to be a bearded man’s head lying among rubble from a collapsed structure in Mecca.

The incident happened with hundreds of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Grand Mosque for early afternoon prayers on the last Friday of this year’s Ramadan.