Members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority organized on Monday a mass funeral for victims of a mosque suicide bombing attack that killed 21, reported AFP.
Organizers expect a large number of people to participate in the event, located in the mainly Shiite Qatif district of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
People from Saudi Arabia’s Shiite community are “very much anxious to participate…to express their support,” an organizer told AFP.
Already, tens of thousands of people have volunteered to act as crowd control for the ceremony, he added.
Extremist group Daesh, which considered Shiites heretics, claimed responsibility for the bombing, the first attack the group has carried out in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi interior minister confirmed that the mosque bomber indeed had ties to Daesh, which considers Shiites heretics.
Saudi Arabia's Shiites have often complained of marginalization within the mainly Sunni kingdom. In an earlier unprecedented attack in November 2014, eight Shiites were killed when gunmen attacked a crowd commemorating Ashura, one of their solemnest holidays. Saudi officials condemned the attack, reported the National.
Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Syria, which has prompted concerns over possible retaliations within the kingdom.
