2014 al-Dalwah attack

The 2014 al-Dalwah attack occurred on 3 November 2014 at al-Dalwah village in the eastern province of al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia when three masked gunmen shot at a group of people, killing eight people and injuring nine others.[1][2][3] The attack occurred on Ashura and is thought to be targeting Shi’ite Muslims. Six people were arrested and one suspect killed.

2014 al-Dalwah attack
Location of Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia
Location	al-Dalwah, al-Ahsa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Date	3 November 2014
Target	Shia Muslims
Attack type	Mass shooting
Weapons	Guns
Deaths	8 (+2 attackers)
Injured	9
Perpetrators	ISIL

On 4 November, two police officers and two gunmen were killed in an operation after five people were shot dead and another wounded.[4] According to Saudi security, the leader of the gunmen had previously slipped back into the kingdom after fighting in Iraq and Syria.[1]

While the government and the official media and religious establishment strongly condemned the attack, a handful of articles in the Saudi press argued that the attack "had not come out of nowhere", that there was anti-Shi'ite incitement in the kingdom on the part of "the religious establishment, preachers, and even university lecturers – and that it was on the rise".[5]