Report: Saudi Arabia busts ISIS cell on the outskirts of Mecca

According to the report, the Saudi police, in collaboration with the Kingdom's security forces, besieged Wadi Numan, a Mecca suburb, where a group of five ISIS fighters had been hiding.

By MAAYAN GROISMAN
Saudi security forces during the operation to capture ISIS cell (photo credit: ARAB MEDIA)
Saudi security forces during the operation to capture ISIS cell
(photo credit: ARAB MEDIA)
The Saudi security forces captured Thursday morning an ISIS cell on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca, Jawal Watani, a prominent Saudi news page on Twitter reported.
According to the report, the Saudi police, in collaboration with the Kingdom's security forces, besieged Wadi Numan, a Mecca suburb, where a group of five ISIS fighters had been hiding.
Saudi security forces deployed helicopters to back up forces on the ground, fearing that the terrorists, refusing to hand themselves over to the police, would throw bombs on them.
During the operation, two ISIS fighters were killed by security forces, while two others committed suicide.
According to Saudi sources, the cell busted was preparing to attack a base of the emergency forces, located five kilometers from where the ISIS fighters resided.
The operation came shortly after the Saudi security forces arrested Ukab Atibi, a member of the ISIS cell that had carried out a suicide attack on a mosque used by members of a local security force in southwest Saudi Arabia in August 2015.