Terror visits Riyadh: 11 dead, Indians among 122 injured

Suspected Al Qaeda suicide bombers posing as Saudi police blew up their explosives-laden car in a Riyadh compound housing mostly foreigners ...

Suspected Al Qaeda suicide bombers posing as Saudi police blew up their explosives-laden car in a Riyadh compound housing mostly foreigners on Sunday, tearing it apart to leave 11 dead and 122 injured.

The wounded include Indians, confirmed Saudi state news agency SPA which quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying that the 11 dead were of ‘‘Saudi, Sudanese and Egyptian nationalities, among them four children.’’

(A PTI report said an Indian was believed to be among the dead but the Interior Ministry made no mention of it and the Indian embassy in Riyadh said ‘‘there are no Indians in the list of dead so far.’’)

The Saudi news agency did not say if there were more people missing under the rubble at the 200-villa compound where the powerful blast ripped an avenue of destruction.

The suicide attack occurred after Western nations issued fresh terror alerts and Washington shut its missions in the kingdom, the world’s biggest oil exporter.

‘‘The attackers got into the compound by disguising themselves as Saudi security. They wore security uniforms and drove into the compound in a vehicle similar to that used by police,’’ a Saudi security source told Reuters. A diplomat confirmed the report.

The security source said there were at least two attackers. The bombers shot their way into the guarded Muhaya complex and detonated at least one car packed with explosives.

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Most residents were families of middle-class professionals from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. ‘‘This is a crime against innocents. It is an Al Qaeda operation. This is a suicide operation,’’ the security source said.

A Western diplomat said Interior Minister Prince Nayef and other Saudi royals had private homes near the compound on the western outskirts of Riyadh.The diplomat said the compound might have been chosen as a ‘‘soft target’’ after a recent crackdown on Al Qaeda militants. Bin Laden’s supporters have threatened to attack Saudi rulers and Westerners in the kingdom. The attack underlines concern in oil markets that Riyadh has failed to contain a rising wave of terror which some analysts fear could one day strike the kingdom’s oil export and production facilities. (Reuters)