King Salman of Saudi Arabia is on a visit to Russia, the first by a Saudi Monarch to this former Soviet State. His absence has seen some traumatic incidents happening in Jeddah. BBC has reported that a gunman armed with two Kalashnikov rifles opened fire at the guards doing duty at the royal palace gate. The attacker attacked the western gate of the Al- Salam palace. According to the Saudi interior ministry statement, a 28-year-old man drove up to the Al Salam Palace gate and opened fire. The man had come in a Hyundai car. The incident happened at about 1515 in the afternoon.

The guards opened retaliatory fire and the lone gunman was shot dead. Before this, the gunman could shoot two guards dead and three were injured, Al Jazeera news channel reported.

The attack

The attacker has been identified and his name is Mansour bin Hassan bin Ali bin Al Fahid al-Amri and was a 28 year old Saudi national. The police have not commented on the motive of the killer and no further details are available. All they have said is that an investigation is on.Saudi Arabia is in the grip of a movement against the king spearheaded by the ISIL. This terror group which is fairly active has been targeting security forces and the Shia minority. The majority of the population of Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

Tens of Shia's have been killed in the northern province where the ISIL is active.

Saudi has involved in fights against the Bashar regime in Syria as well as the Iranian supported Houthi regime in Yemen. Despite cobbling a coalition, the Saudi force has not made much headway in Yemen.

Questions

The attack on a secure area of a palace in Jeddah is cause for worry and shows that the tentacles of the opponents of the Saudi regime have spread far and wide.

The US had already issued a travel advisory to all American’s to exercise extreme caution while moving in Jeddah as a terror attack was expected on the palace. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the palace but the killer who was shot dead had come with the ominous intention of dying in carrying out his act.

He was reportedly also carrying grenades and petrol bombs. Many questions are raised as to how the attacker could get close to the palace and target the guards

Saudi Arabia is slowly changing archaic laws and recently women have been allowed to drive cars. But the regime is still light years away in giving equal rights to women in the kingdom. The monarchy maintains an iron grip on the kingdom but terror groups led by the ISIS are active.