Riyadh: Maj. Gen. Bassam Attia, director of the Investigations and Strategic Planning Center of the Interior Ministry, said several individuals belonging to a terrorist cell in Al-Harazat neighborhood in Jeddah were apprehended.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that the two suicide bombers who blew themselves up following a security raid in Al-Harazat on Saturday have been identified. Sixteen suspects — three Saudis and 13 Pakistanis — have been arrested.
“One of the dead terrorists, Nadi Marzouk Anzi, had been arrested in 2004 on charges of having ties with hostile foreign elements, but was released in 2006,” Attia said.
Later Anzi became acquainted with a middleman named Abusadon who convinced him to travel to Syria, where he stayed only four hours. He then traveled to Iraq. There, Anzi attempted to carry out a suicide attack using an explosive belt, but failed and was arrested by Iraqi authorities in 2007. He was released in 2013.
Attia said that Hussam Al-Johani, the key suspect that was among the arrested, admitted that he had acted on instructions from Daesh and provided a hideout for the two suicide bombers who carried out the attack in Al-Harazat.
He was first arrested in 2004 for traveling to Iraq. He was released in 2006. In 2007, he got in touch with individuals and smugglers to help him cross the Iraqi border and was arrested again for facilitating the entry of a group of people who wanted to fight in Iraq. He was released in 2015.
Attia added the Al-Harazat cell had been linked to Al-Qaeda and then with Daesh, which enabled its members to gain experience.
Moreover, the security official said that over 28 months, the terrorist cell had created five labs to manufacture explosives. The cell carried out terrorist attacks that injured more than 90 people.
He added that six other labs, used for making explosives, have been discovered so far, which means there is a possibility of future terror attacks targeting the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Interior Ministry’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said investigation is under way into the Al-Harazat incident.
Al-Turki said that security personnel want to capture terrorists alive.
“Security men do not aim to kill terrorists,” he said. “Rather, they are keen to arrest them and hand them over to the judicial authorities.
Al-Turki pointed out the attacks that targeted the Prophet’s Mosque show that terrorists have no qualms about striking holy places, adding that nine mosques have been targeted across the Kingdom.
Al-Turki said the two terrorists who blew themselves up in
Al-Serwani was one of the most wanted terrorists, involved in many terrorist activities. He disseminated and promoted misconceptions on the Internet, incited people to join fighting in conflict zones and helped Daesh targeted worshipers at a mosque in Asir.
He also helped the suicide bomber who carried out the terrorist attack on Al-Mashhad mosque in Najran and in other crimes. He provided a hideout for four terrorists in Makkah region and manufactured explosives belts and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in a lab in Al-Harazat.
Anzi had a lengthy criminal record that included charges of working for a TV channel hostile to Saudi Arabia, traveling to conflict zones and providing logistic support to captured terrorists Ekab Al-Otaibi, Salem Al-Rowaili and Abdul Malik Al-Bi’adi.
Al-Johani, the key suspect, said the woman who was with him during the security raid was his wife and her name is Fatima Ramadan Balouchi.
The following arsenal was found in the house lab in Al-Harazat neighborhood: Three grenades, eight explosive devices, 48 bags containing chemicals used in the manufacture of explosives, three electronic scales, two cylindrical metal tubes; 10 square-shaped metal explosive devices, locally manufactured, three gas canisters; two automatic weapons; one pistol, 165 rounds of ammunition and six handgun bullets.