Militants blow themselves up in Saudi

Two suspects blew themselves up yesterday during a firefight with security forces in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia, officials said.

The two men "committed suicide by detonating their explosive belts" during a security operation against a suspected "terrorist" hideout in a southern district of Jeddah, the region's authorities said on Twitter.

They did not give immediate details about the operation or identify the bombers, but said the raid had been successfully carried out after a shootout with the suspects.

Earlier this month, Saudi security forces shot and killed two suspected jihadists including an explosive belt maker during a police operation in the north of Riyadh.