Alwaght- Saudi security forces have killed a teenager in an attack on residential areas in the eastern, predominantly Shiite Qatif region.
Saudi forces raided a residential neighborhood in Qatif’s village of al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia’s oil-reach Eastern Province on Saturday and destroyed buildings. A nine-year-old boy named Walid Talal al-Ariz was killed and an unspecified number of other civilians were injured in the attack.
Regime forces deployed explosive devices during the operation.
On Friday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said police had shot dead a man in the area during what it called an exchange of fire. The man had previously been charged with committing crimes related to “terrorism,” it said.
Qatif has been the scene of widespread anti-regime protests since 2011. The Shiite community there has been suffering from discrimination at the hands of the Al Saud Wahhabi monarchy that deems Shiites as infidels.
The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the regime. Security forces have ramped up security measures across the province.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws so as to also affect activism.
