(WASHINGTON, DC) – Saudi Arabia today arrested 15 men, in six different cities in the Kingdom, in connection with a shooting late Monday evening in the village of Al-Dalwah in Al-Ahsa Governorate that left five people dead and nine injured. According to the Interior Ministry, those involved were arrested on terrorism charges.

Following the initial arrest of six people involved in the shooting, authorities opened a further investigation into the cause of the shooting. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, security operations in a number of Saudi regions resulted in arresting nine suspects in addition to those already announced.

Two members of the Saudi security forces and two suspected gunmen were killed in a shootout in Buraidah, in the Qassim region, in a security operation linked to the Al-Ahsa attack. Two members of the security forces were also wounded.

The Council of Senior Scholars strongly condemned the criminal incident. Dr. Fahd bin Saad Al-Majed, secretary general of the council, described the attack as a “vicious assault and a heinous crime,” whose perpetrators deserve the harshest penalties. He stated that their crimes violate the principles of Islam, which protects the lives of the innocent.

Saudi Arabia is committed to stopping terrorism in all its forms. In February, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz issued a royal decree on counterterrorism. The decree reinforced that acts of terrorism, including membership in terrorist organizations, and ‎participation in hostilities outside the Kingdom, will not be tolerated.