The ISIS terrorist organization attacked a Saudi Arabia mosque on August 6, 2015, killing 13 and wounding 22, during Muslim noon (Al-Dhuhr) prayer, the city of Abha, the provincial capital of Asir.  The ISIS terror group Hijaz Province of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.  Ten of the 13 killed were emergency force members; the rest were others who worked at the site, according to Saudi state media. Saudi state media also reported that the mosque belongs to an Interior Ministry emergency services post.

It has not been specified if this was a Sunni or Shiite mosque attacked.  Previous ISIS terror attacks have been on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia.

Counter-terrorist group monitoring of ISIS Twitter accounts came up  with information on the ISIS terror group’s claims, which issued a statement that its terrorist suicide bomber targeted a “monument of the apostate,” referring to the special forces’ compound in Abha. It described the kingdom’s ruling family as “tyrants” who have aligned themselves with “their Crusader masters,” or Western allies.  The ISIS terrorist group statement identified the suicide bomber as “Abu Sinan al-Najdi,” which indicates that he is from Najd, a region in Saudi Arabia.

The Associated Press reported that “An allegedly new Islamic State affiliate in Saudi Arabia claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound in the country’s southwest on Thursday that killed at least 15 people, most of them members and recruits of the kingdom’s special forces. It was the deadliest attack against Saudi security personnel in years and one that is likely to pull the kingdom deeper into the regional war with IS extremists. The blast took place in an Interior Ministry compound in the city of Abha, the provincial capital of Asir, which lies along the border with war-torn Yemen. The troops killed were members of an elite counter-terrorism force. The attack was stunning in its timing and target, coming just weeks after the Saudi Interior Ministry announced the arrest of more than 400 suspects in an anti-terrorism sweep. In April, they announced the arrest of more than 90 suspects.”

On May 22, a 20-year-old ISIS terrorist blew himself up at a Shiite mosque in Qatif, during Friday prayers, killing 21 people and wounding more than 100.  A week later, on May 29, another ISIS terrorist dressed as a woman detonated an explosives belt at another Shiite mosque, killing four people.

Terrorist and extremist violence which seeks to deny our universal human rights, our human dignity, and religious freedom has no boundaries. It can strike anywhere against anyone of any faith. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges people of all faiths to stand together united for our shared Universal Human Rights and defy those terrorists of every kind who would deny us the inherent freedom that we share together.