2 Suspected Militants Killed in Saudi Police Raids

Saudi police killed two suspected militants and arrested three others during raids to foil an "imminent terrorist operation," the interior ministry said Monday.

"This cell planned to carry out an imminent terrorist operation that had reached late stages of execution," the ministry said, without disclosing a target.

Sunday's raids, in Riyadh and the eastern city of Dammam, follow a series of bombings this year claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group that killed more than 40 Shiites, policemen and others in Saudi Arabia.

In Dammam, a wanted man was killed after he opened fire at security personnel, the ministry said, adding that two people were arrested.

At an apartment in Riyadh's Falah district, another wanted man was killed in the same circumstances, while a suspect surrendered in the Andalus area, it said.

In July, the interior ministry said it had broken up an IS-linked network and arrested more than 430 suspects involved in attacks and plots.

Last Saturday, police killed a suspected jihadist gunman and detained his brother in the kingdom's northwest during an operation that left a policeman dead, the ministry said.

The suspects, described as IS followers, were wanted for the murder of a soldier, two civilians and a policeman in the Hail area.