Riyadh - An Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked a Shia mosque in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing 21 people and wounding 81 in an assault that threatens to fan sectarian tensions.
The bomber struck during the main weekly prayers in Eastern Province, where assailants linked to the Sunni extremist IS killed seven members of the minority Shia community in November.
The interior ministry said a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the mosque in the Shia-majority city of Qatif, the official SPA news agency reported.
"An individual detonated a bomb he was wearing under his clothes during Friday prayers at Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque... in Qatif," the ministry spokesman said in a statement.
The health ministry was quoted by SPA as saying that 21 people were killed and 81 wounded, including 12 in critical condition.
IS said it was behind the attack, the first time the group has officially claimed an attack in Saudi Arabia, and vowed "dark days ahead" for Shias, whom the group consider to be heretics, until militants "chase them from the Arabian Peninsula".
A statement published online said "soldiers of the Caliphate" were behind the attack by Abu Amer al-Najdi who "detonated an explosives belt" in the mosque.
The United States and UN Security Council condemned the bombing, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not immediately able to confirm it was the work of IS.
Shia Iran demanded that the perpetrators be found and punished, and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah said it holds the Saudi authorities "totally responsible" for the bombing.
AFP
