Manama: A Saudi officer was killed and two others were injured when their patrol car was targeted by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Qatif in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said that the incident occurred in the Masoura district in Al Awamiyah at around 11:30 on Sunday evening while the officers were on duty and that an investigation into the terror attack had been launched.

The officer who lost his life was identified as Major Tariq Bin Abdul Lateef Al Allaqi. The other two officers are in a stable condition, the spokesman said.

Qatif has seen a number of terrorist attacks targeting officers and patrol cars and in which civilians were also killed.

Last month, a two-year-old Saudi boy and a Pakistani expatriate were killed when armed assailants fired at company workers carrying out a development project and at bystanders and passers-by in Qatif.

The toddler, identified as Jawad Al Dagher, was killed in front of his mother.

The company’s heavy machines were also targeted by the attackers who hurled explosives in their bid to sabotage them and hamper the progress of the demolition of abandoned houses in the Masoura district.

A spokesman for the police said that the houses were used by terrorists as hideouts and dens for their criminal activities that included murders, kidnappings, armed robbery, and trafficking in drugs, alcohol and weapons.

“When security forces arrived at the site to deal with the attacks, the terrorists fired indiscriminately and heavily at passers-by and security men, killing a two-year-old Saudi national and a Pakistani national,” he said.

“Ten people, including six Saudis, were injured. A Saudi woman and her two children were also injured. The expatriates who needed medical treatment are two Pakistanis, one Sudanese and one Indian who is in critical condition. The four security personnel were slightly injured.”

Reports in Saudi Arabia said that the development project included the demolition of old houses and the construction of a shopping centre, restaurants, residential towers and a cultural centre.

The Interior Ministry said the development project would go ahead as planned and that security forces would not allow acts of terror aiming to frighten people and to undermine peace.

In its statement, the ministry lauded the cooperation and support of the people and urged everyone to stay away from the project site and from the roads leading to it for their own safety.