Saudi Arabia: Why?

Saudi Arabia: Why?

Located on the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia is known as the birthplace of islam and home of the most sacred mosques. Within a 24 hour timespan, there were three suicide attacks in three different spots. All three locations being well-known to locals or having sacred meaning to the country.

The first attacking being in the city of Jeddah when a suicide bomber triggered his explosive in a hospital parking lot–he was stopped by authorities. According to the article “ISIS Fulfills Promise of Deadly Ramadan as Holy Month Comes to an End,” released by NBC and written by Tim Stelloh, the bomber was 30 feet  from the U.S. Consulate. He killed himself and injured two officers.

The next attack happening only hours later in the city of Qatif–located on the opposite side of the country. The attack was fulfilled by two suicide bombers. Details are not clear.

The third attack was shortly after in the city of Medina. This attack was near the security headquarters of the Prophet’s Mosque–said to be one of the holiest sites in Islam. The bomber disrupted the Maghreb prayers that were occurring in the parking lot of the mosque. Four officers and the suicide bomber were all killed.

The attacks happened during the month of Ramadan, taking place in the ninth month of the Muslim year and having its followers fast from sunrise to sunset. In the weeks prior to Ramadan, ISIS stated, “with God’s permission, a month of pain infidels everywhere,” according to the NBC article. There were other attacks caused by the Islamic militant group in other countries, such as Turkey and Bangladesh. But after the attacks, it was found to be that all three were coordinated.

From all three attacks, there were a total of ten casualties and two injuries–the statistics from Qatif still not clear. According to an article on CNBC titled “Suicide bombers attack Jeddah, Medina, Qatif as Eid al-Fitr near,” author being unknown, the article stated that the State Department told U.S. Citizens in the country to be aware of their surroundings, as well as keep security and situation awareness levels high.

Senior Natalie Anderson said, “If I were on vacation there, I would feel unsafe and not comfortable.” She continued on by stating if I lived there, a city that was attacked, I wouldn’t feel safe and would move to a new city.

Junior Courtney Merenkov said, “If I were a local in Saudi Arabia when the attacks occurred, I would fear that wouldn’t be the end of the conflict.” She continued by saying I would be concerned about what the local law enforcement were doing to protect the public and prevent things like this from happening in the future.
With certain information remaining unclear, the attacks have left the country of Saudi Arabia asking, Why?