Two Saudi policemen injured in Awamiyah bombing

A file photo of Saudi Arabian policemen

A bomb has exploded in Saudi Arabia’s Shia-dominated Eastern Province, wounding two Saudi police officers.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman as saying that an improvised explosive device had gone off outside the old quarter of Awamiyah Village, known as al-Mosara, on Monday.

The injured Saudi policemen were taken to the hospital, the official was further cited as saying, adding that an investigation had been launched into the incident.

The Monday attack was the second of its kind in two weeks, targeting Saudi forces as the Riyadh regime is engaged in demolition work to controversially raze Mosara.

Saudi authorities claim that Mosara’s narrow streets, built during Ottoman rule over 200 years ago, have become a hideout for militants believed to be behind attacks on security forces in the region.

UN experts have criticized the ongoing attempts to demolish Mosara and accused the Saudi kingdom of erasing cultural heritage, violating human rights, and forcing residents to flee their homes.

On May 16, a Saudi soldier was killed and five others were wounded when gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at their patrol car in Awamiyah.

Days earlier, armed men shot dead a Saudi child and a Pakistani man during an attack on workers at a building project in Awamiyah.

A picture taken in 2016 shows a man walking past images of executed Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr on a wall in Awamiyah, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. (By AFP)

Awamiyah has witnessed anti-regime protests since 2011, with demonstrators demanding free speech, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination.

The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the Saudi regime.

The rallies intensified after the January 2016 execution of respected Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.