Monday, July 04, 2016
The gates of the US consulate in Jeddah
A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near an American diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jeddah, according to the Interior Ministry.
The ministry said in a statement the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near the parking lot of a hospital.
The attacker died and two security men were wounded with minor injuries, according to the statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Some vehicles in the car park were damaged.
Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki, Interior Ministry spokesman, said the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at an intersection by the heavily fortified American consulate in Jeddah, near the Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital.
Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.
The American Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties or injuries among consular staff. The embassy said it remained in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigated the attack.
The Interior Ministry did not specify if the attacker was intending to target the US diplomatic compound, saying an investigation was underway to determine his identity.