The masked assailants fatally shot five and wounded nine others.

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed five people Monday in the eastern city of al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia as the community prepared to commemorate the day of Ashura, police said.

Nine people were wounded in the attack which took place at 11:30 p.m., Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Authorities arrested on Tuesday six people linked to the shooting, the Saudi interior minsitry said.

Three masked assailants had got out of a car and started shooting at a group of people as they exited a “location” in the al-Dalwah village, a spokesperson for the Eastern Province police said in a statement.

Masked gunmen killed five people in a mostly Shiite area of eastern Saudi Arabia late on Monday, as the minority community prepared to celebrate the festival of Ashura, police said.

The spokesman did not specify what the building was or what motive the gunmen might have had.

Media reports suspect that this may have been a terrorist attack as it targeted innocent civilians.

Postings on social networking sites, residents said that the crowd had been leaving a Shiite place of worship on the eve of Ashura, one of the main festivals of their faith, Reuters news agency reported.

The commemoration of Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam’s most revered figures, peaks on Tuesday.

 
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