Yup, that's an alleged new group of ISIS affiliates if your keeping track.Here is the latest: CBC
A group purporting to be a newly-established Saudi affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group says it is behind Friday's attack on Shia worshippers in the kingdom.In a statement distributed on ISIS-linked Twitter feeds, a group purporting to be the ISIS branch in Saudi Arabia issued the claim. It could not be independently confirmed if the new group has operational links to ISIS
The group's statement carried a logo in Arabic referring to itself as the "Najd Province" — a reference to the historic region that is home to the capital Riyadh and the ruling Al Saud family, as well as the ultraconservative Wahhabi branch of Islam.
A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people Friday in a blast inside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia as worshippers commemorated the 7th century birth of a revered figure, residents and officials said.Loyalists of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack — the second against Shiites in the kingdom in six months. In November, the extremist Islamic State group was accused of being behind the shooting and killing of eight worshippers in the eastern Saudi Arabian village of al-Ahsa.Despite a string of IS-related attacks over the past several months that have also targeted police, Friday's suicide bombing appears to be the deadliest in the country in nearly a decade.
Some ultraconservative Sunnis in Saudi Arabia, known as Wahhabis, have used Friday sermons to rally support for the war and simultaneously criticize Shiites and their practice of praying at the tombs of religious figures, which they view as akin to polytheism.
That is such a familiar occurrence. Exactly as it was done in Syria. Who would think?
The country's top cleric, Grand Mufti Abdel-Aziz al-Sheikh, told Saudi state television that the attack in Qatif aims at "driving a wedge among the sons of the nation" and described it as "a crime, shame and great sin." The country's top council of clerics issued a statement blaming the attack on "terrorist criminals with foreign agendas."
Reuters is reporting 21 deaths at the mosque
More than 150 people were praying when the huge explosion ripped through the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, witnesses said.
Flashback: Sy Hersh’s Limited Hangout: Framing Saudi Arabia for Destruction/DestabilizationAn interesting hour of conversation from Jay Dyer and company This is the half audio interview with Mark Hackard & Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East. Mark and Daniel joined me for a 2 hour discussion of their recent articles and translations of Soviet history, secret operations, black markets, fronts and shells, blackmail and intrigue and Middle Eastern trickery combined with American foreign policy ventures. Topics covered include The Cambridge Five and Philby, Golitsin and defections, ISIS, media manipulation, the history of Islamic sects, and much more.