Three Killed in Armed Attack on Salama Palace in Jeddah

Following reports of an attack near the Salama Palace in Jeddah, the official Saudi news agency confirmed that two members of the royal guard were killed in the attack, and the assailant was shot dead. According to a spokesperson for the Saudi Ministry of Interior, this attack occurred in the early hours of Friday, October 6, when the assailant exited his vehicle near the western gate of the Salama Palace and opened fire on the royal guard. The report indicates that two royal guard members were killed and three others injured, with the assailant being shot down. On Saturday, October 7, some unverified reports on social media suggested that Saudi security forces had thwarted an attack near the Salama Palace in Jeddah. Initial reports indicated that the assailant and two guards were killed during the incident. At that time, there had been no official response from Saudi officials, and the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia was the only official source that briefly referred to reports from some news outlets about the attack on the Salama Palace. In this statement, referring to the location of the incident near the King Abdulaziz and Andalus highways, American citizens present in Jeddah were advised to exercise caution when passing through the area due to the possibility of future police operations. Agence France-Presse reported that last week, a raid by Saudi police on the hideouts of a 'terror cell' linked to ISIS resulted in the deaths of two individuals and the arrest of five others. The Saudi National Security Agency stated that police raided three hideouts in Riyadh on Thursday, October 12, and exchanged gunfire with suspects in one case. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has witnessed numerous attacks and bombings for which groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have claimed responsibility. For instance, in July of this year, Saudi officials reported the thwarting of a suicide attack near the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In mid-July 2016, a suicide attack occurred in a parking lot adjacent to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, resulting in the deaths of two Saudi police officers, while three suicide bombers also lost their lives in the attack. Additionally, reports have emerged of armed attacks on Shia mosques in the eastern part of the country. In 2015, a suicide bomber detonated himself near a Shia mosque in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, killing five people, including the bomber. A week prior to that, in a similar operation, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Imam Hussein Shia mosque in the Al-Anoud area of Dammam in Qatif province, resulting in 22 deaths. In this context, Saudi Arabia announced the 'prevention of an ISIS attack' and the arrest of 'foreign spies.' Saudi Arabia reported the thwarting of a 'terrorist attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca.' Saudi Arabia arrested 46 individuals in connection with the July attack in Medina. Several explosions shook the cities of Qatif and Medina in Saudi Arabia. 'Death of the assailant in a suicide attack' near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia sentenced 14 people to death on terrorism charges. Saudi Arabia reported that four members of the Islamic State group were killed in the outskirts of Mecca.