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A terrorist attack on Shia al-Rida mosque in Eastern Saudi Arabia leaves four people dead and 18 injured on Friday, according to Saudi interior ministry.

A suicide bombing rocked the Shia mosque on Friday where two suicide bombers with explosive belts came to the mosque on time of main prayers.

When security forces came to stop them one of them blew himself up and the other was caught and seized before having a chance to explode his belt.

In a written statement the interior ministry said security personnel prevented the two bombers from getting inside the Al-Rida mosque in the Mahasen neighbourhood of Al-Ahsa city.

The Eastern Saudi province of Mahasen, where the explosion took place, is a mixed Sunni-Shia district, and is an extension of a compound where state oil company Aramco employees live, according to different news agencies.

Pictures and videos of the scene were posted on social media networks showing several bodies on the ground and depicting the aftermath of the bombing.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack yet. However, the Eastern Shia provinces of Saudi Arabia have been suffering from insecurity and terrorist attacks for at least a year now.

In October, the terrorist group “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL) claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Najran city, were at least one person was killed and 16 others were injured.

Witnesses were reported saying that the bombing outside of the mosque caused a power blackout inside the mosque. The second suicide bomber was overpowered by the worshipers as he tried to enter the mosque (to blow himself up inside). He was beaten up by worshipers and security forces and was finally arrested.

In an audio message circulated on social media one witness described the situation saying “

"The young men grabbed his machine gun and beat him up, but he did not die. The police then came and took him away and the wounded were taken in private cars because ambulance cars did not arrive quickly."

Also, Reuters reported speaking to a witness which said that a third attacker was believed to be involved in the attack and that he may have fled or disappeared.

200 people were performing prayers in the mosque at the time of the explosion.

The terrorist attack came less than a month after the execution of prominent Saudi Shia clergyman Sheykh Nimr al-Nimr by the Saudi regime which has caused waves of rage across the Islamic world.

Both the Sunni and Shia communities and their leaders condemned the Saudi regime’s execution of Shia clergyman al-Nimr who had been actively peacefully demanding that Shias be given their rights and described it as unacceptable and unjust.

Shias in Saudi Arabia make up around 10 to 15 percent of Saudi Arabia's population. Suffering from the regime’s injustice against them, the Shias have been peacefully demanding for their civil rights in the country. Their demanding has been responded by with suppression and a use of force, with the last response being the execution of the prominent figure Sheykh Nirmr al-Nimr.