ISIS threatens to overthrow Saudi government and free prisoners
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The extremist Islamic State (ISIS) group has threatened to destroy Saudi jails and free prisoners, after Riyadh executed 43 convicted al-Qaeda militants and four others last week.
"The Islamic State always seeks to free prisoners, but we calculate that the ending of the issues of prisoners will not happen except with the eradication of the rule of tyrants, and then destroying their prisons and razing them to the ground," the group said in an online post that was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday.
The radical group has previously claimed responsibility for a string of bombings on Shiites and security forces in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.
ISIS has also attacked Saudi Arabia’s al-Ha'ir and Tarfiya prisons, where many al-Qaeda and ISIS supporters have been jailed.
Despite their ideological differences ISIS and al-Qaeda – both extremist Sunni groups -- see Saudi Arabia as an enemy.
Four Shiite Muslims, including prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, were among people executed by Saudi authorities over the weekend, flaring tensions between Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia that have grown into a regional row.
"The Islamic State always seeks to free prisoners, but we calculate that the ending of the issues of prisoners will not happen except with the eradication of the rule of tyrants, and then destroying their prisons and razing them to the ground," the group said in an online post that was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday.
The radical group has previously claimed responsibility for a string of bombings on Shiites and security forces in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.
ISIS has also attacked Saudi Arabia’s al-Ha'ir and Tarfiya prisons, where many al-Qaeda and ISIS supporters have been jailed.
Despite their ideological differences ISIS and al-Qaeda – both extremist Sunni groups -- see Saudi Arabia as an enemy.
Four Shiite Muslims, including prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, were among people executed by Saudi authorities over the weekend, flaring tensions between Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia that have grown into a regional row.