Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Three Saudi terror suspects managed to escape from police grip in Mecca after one of their colleagues was killed in a shootout, reports said Thursday.
| Of course they did, the Saudis had them "surrounded". |
Official sources said the incident occurred Wednesday night when police raided the suspects' hideout in the al-Aziziya neighborhood in the holy city of Mecca after monitoring their movements for several days. The suspects managed to flee from the city toward a desert area between Mecca and Taif, but were chased by police, who killed one of them after being attacked by hand grenades.
"The remaining three suspects managed to escape after stealing another car at gunpoint, but police are still conducting a manhunt to catch them," the sources said. They said police seized arms, explosives and ammunition from the suspects' hideout and the car they left behind.
Additional: Police had tried to persuade the militant, in his mid-20s, to surrender, but were forced to open fire after he hurled the grenade, a security source said. The source said the man, identified as Saleh Al-Badrani, was not on the Saudi list of 26 most wanted terrorists, 11 of whom are still on the run. |