Four killed in Saudi Arabia checkpoint shootout: ministry

A drive-by shooting against a checkpoint in central Saudi Arabia and an ensuing gunfight left a security officer, a Bangladeshi civilian and two attackers dead, the kingdom's interior ministry has said.

"A security checkpoint on the Buraydah-Tarfiyah road in Qassim region came under fire from three terrorists riding in a vehicle on Sunday afternoon," the ministry said in a statement yesterday.

"Two of the terrorists were killed and a third was wounded and transferred to hospital," it added.

Sergeant Suleiman Abdelaziz Abdel Latif was named as the Saudi fatality. The ministry said a Bangladeshi resident was also killed, but did not announce his name.

The authorities said a criminal investigation has been launched into the attack. Four Saudi policemen were killed and four others wounded on April 20 in an attack targeting a checkpoint in the southwestern province of Asir.

The kingdom has seen numerous attacks in recent years by jihadists, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, against security forces.

It has also seen clashes between Shiite militants and security forces in the eastern provinces.