The attack happened in the Northern Borders Province at about 4:30 am local time.

Three Saudi Arabian border guards including a senior officer were killed on the kingdom’s frontier with Iraq following a “terrorist” attack, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

The unidentified attackers opened fire at a border patrol near Arar, in the Northern Borders Province at about 4:30 am local time on Monday, the ministry said.

Earlier, two border guards were said to have been killed and another injured.

“Four terrorists were spotted trying to infiltrate the Saudi border through Suef post bordering Iraq. When the patrol intercepted their way, the terrorists opened fire and the patrol responded accordingly. As a result, one of the terrorists was killed while another terrorist detonated an explosive belt he was wearing when the patrol tried to convince him to surrender himself,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman as saying.

“The patrol traced the two other individuals who attempted to escape. The security men surrounded the two individuals at Arar Valley. The patrol called on them to surrender, but one of them blow himself up while the other was killed by security men. After combing the site, the patrol seized weapons – automatic gun, pistol, hand grenades and explosive belts – in addition to banknotes,” the statement added.

“As a result of the fire exchange and the explosive belt detonation, Brigadier General Awdah Mouawad Al-Balawi, Corporal Tariq Mohammed Halawi and Private Yahya Ahmed Najmi were killed; and Colonel Salem Taasan Al-Anzi and Private Yahya Ahmed Muqari were injured and rushed to the hospital for treatment. Their health condition is stable.”

[wpResize]