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Shiites reel from attack in Saudi province

Saudi authorities need to curb hate speech against Shiites and take positive action to help its Shiite community, as well.
Shi'ites chant slogans during a rally following Friday's suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque, at Qatif, in east Saudi Arabia May 23, 2015. A suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers on Friday in the packed Shi'ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, residents and the health minister said, the first attack in the kingdom to be claimed by Islamic State militants. More than 150 people were praying when the huge explosion ripped through the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, witnesses said. Picture taken May 2

The Shiite community in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province suffered an unprecedented attack May 22, as the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing during prayer in the Ali bin Abi Talib Shiite mosque in al-Qudaih, a village near Qatif, a predominantly Shiite town associated with a high level of Shiite dissidence, activism and demonstrations. 

Saudi authorities named the perpetrator as Salih al-Qashami, an alleged member of an IS secret cell and one of 26 men on the latest Saudi list of wanted radical suspects. The bombing resulted in more than 20 deaths and multiple injuries. 

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