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Suicide bombers
struck three cities across Saudi Arabia earlier this month,
killing at least four security officers in an apparently
coordinated campaign of attacks on the penultimate day of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"Those attacks bear the hallmarks of ISIL," Brennan said at an
event hosted by the Brookings Institution think tank, using an
acronym for Islamic State.
The explosions struck in Jeddah, Qatif and a security
headquarters in the holy city of Medina, an attack Brennan
described as "unprecedented".
The attacks were not claimed by any group although the Saudi
government believes Islamic State is responsible after detaining
19 suspects linked to the five attackers.
Brennan said that while al Qaeda still posed a threat to Saudi
Arabia, which had launched a fierce crackdown on the militant
group in the early 2000s, Islamic State posed a greater danger
to the kingdom.
Islamic State militants have carried out similar bombings in the
U.S.-allied, Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom in the past year,
targeting minority Shi'ites and Saudi security forces.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and
Ism'ail Kushkush; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
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