Egypt has condemned a shooting that left five people dead and nine injured in Saudi Arabia, in a foreign ministry statement released Tuesday.
The shooting in Saudi Arabia took place inside a Shi’a mosque in Al-Ahsa region, in the eastern part of the country, as worshippers celebrated Ashura.
During the holiday, the Shi’a community mourns the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died with 72 family members at the Battle of Karbala. Sunni militants frequently target Shi’a worshippers during this holiday in countries including Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the drive-by shooting of prominent liberal Yemeni politician Mohammed Al-Mutawakkil, Secretary General of the Popular Forces Union Party. The assassination took place one day after the party signed an agreement with Houthi rebels and other political parties to form a technocratic government and end the country’s political crisis.
The ministry expressed hope that Yemen would soon achieve “national consensus and stability”.
The ministry also condemned all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at destabilising the region and upheld the need for concerted efforts to eliminate such threats.
