Eleven Saudi schools were evacuated and military troops have been massed on the border with Yemen after gunmen killed a Saudi officer and injured 11others in the border region of Jazan.
The incident took place on Tuesday by armed men who infiltrated into Saudi Arabia from Yemen in the mountainous Jazan region that borders the northern part of Yemen, where Yemeni forces have been fighting Zaidi Shiite rebels for weeks, SPA quoted an unnamed senior security official.
The pro-Western Yemeni government is also fighting al-Qaeda, which is also seeking to destabilize Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam.
The kingdom ... will do what it takes to preserve the security of the homeland and protect its borders and deter those infiltrators and their likes from any side they are
"The kingdom ... will do what it takes to preserve the security of the homeland and protect its borders and deter those infiltrators and their likes from any side they are," the agency said.
The gunmen used "various weapons" in their attack, it said without giving further details. Jazan is far from the top oil exporter's key oil facilities.
Yemeni government officials have said Iranian media backs the rebels, often termed Houthis after their clan and religious leaders, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said Iranian religious figures provide funding.
Veteran ruler Saleh also faces a separatist movement in the south and Saudi Arabia fears the instability will help al-Qaeda launch more attacks there.
(With Agencies)
Comments »