Isis: Saudi Arabia beefing up security for Ramadan

Saudi Arabia is weighing up the increasing threat from Islamic State (Isis) during the upcoming Ramadan following a second mosque attack in the kingdom.

Authorities have assured the kingdom is fully equipped to tackle the threats posed by the Islamist militant group. Security at mosques is being beefed up as part of the measures for the Ramadan month, which will begin in mid-June.

"The new regulations will apply to the construction of mosques as a prerogative," a security source told the Saudi daily Arab News.

The ministry of Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance has also finished a week-long study to assess the threats faced by mosques across Saudi Arabia.

"Mosques are a place of worship and not a place of rivalry and sectarian issues, and the ministry forbids mentioning names, institutions or parties," the security source added.

The ministry has also exhorted imams and preachers in local mosques to tone down their aggressive rhetoric during sermons in order to avoid raising tensions.

The latest developments come as the IS claimed yet another attack on a Saudi mosque. The suicide bomb attack near Dammam was thwarted by security forces but it claimed at least four lives.

"Security men foiled an attempt to carry out a terror attack on worshippers performing the Friday prayer at Anoud Mosque in Dammam. When security men saw a suspicious looking car heading for the parking area close to the mosque, they approached it and it was then that the explosion took place near the car, killing four people (including the bomber), one of them believed to be the car driver," said interior ministry spokesperson Major General Mansour al-Tukri.

Local residents have been circulating a picture of a badly-disfigured body, suspected to be of the bomber, on social media platforms.

This was the second bomb attack by the IS in Saudi Arabia. The first blast on 22 May killed 21 people in Qatif.