Saudi police have arrested and charged twin brothers with killing their mother over an apparent Islamic State recruitment dispute.

Khaled and Saleh al-Oraini, 20, allegedly stabbed their 67-year-old mother Haila, an older brother and their 73-year-old father on June 22. The mother died of her wounds as the men attempted to flee for Yemen.

Saudi interior ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki gave Reuters scant details of the arrest.

“The only [established] thing is that they follow Takfiri ideology,” Mr. Turki said Tuesday. “The case is still under investigation.”

Local media outlets reported that wounded family members were hospitalized and recovering.

“Had this come from drug addicts or ignorant youth, it would not have been unusual,” Saudi writer Mohammad Ali Al-Mahmoud told Reuters. “The shock is that it came from a pair of religious children acting in the name of Islam.”

The Saudi news website akhbaar24 reported June 26 that this is the fifth instance where family members were killed by suspected Islamic terror group members.

Mr. Al-Mahmoud told Reuters that Saudi Arabia needs to “drain the swamp” of teachings the forbid honest critiques of violent ideologies.

“What is needed is to shake the confidence in these teachings that are being imported from our distant past,” the writer said.

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