Islamic State gunman kills five in Saudi Arabia

A gunman killed five people and wounded nine others in an attack on a Shia gathering hall in eastern Saudi Arabia, that a group with links to the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for.

The shooting in Saihat on Friday came two days after the start of Ashura commemorations, a holy occasion for Shia Muslims.

The Saudi interior ministry said that a gunman had opened fire at random before police intervened and shot the gunman dead in a gun battle.

Amateur video footage showed worshippers, including young children, crowding towards the entrance of the hall before retreating in fear at the sound of gunfire.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

 “With the approval of God Almighty, the soldier of the caliphate Shuja al-Dawsari, may God accept him, set his Kalashnikov upon one of the apostate polytheists’ temples,” the group said in an online statement.

IS has launched a series of deadly attacks inside Saudi Arabia in recent months, aiming to bring about the overthrow of Gulf states’ ruling dynasties.

In August, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people in an attack on a mosque in south-west Saudi Arabia. In May, two separate suicide bombings on Shia mosques killed 25 worshippers.

Saudi authorities said in July that they had arrested 431 IS suspects and had foiled plans to attack places of worship and security forces.