Saudi Arabia checkpoint shootout leaves four dead

A drive-by shooting against a checkpoint in central Saudi Arabia and an ensuing gunfight on Sunday left a security officer, a Bangladeshi civilian and two attackers dead, the kingdom's interior ministry said.

"A security checkpoint on the Buraydah-Tarfiyah road in Qassim region came under fire from three terrorists riding in a vehicle on Sunday afternoon," the ministry said in a statement. 

"Two of the terrorists were killed and a third was wounded and transferred to hospital," it added. 

Qassim, a heartland of the kingdom's ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam, is one of the most conservative pockets of the country. Analysts say many young men from the region have joined al-Qaeda in Yemen or militant groups in Iraq.

Sergeant Suleiman Abdelaziz Abdel Latif was identified as the Saudi fatality. The ministry said a Bangladeshi resident was also killed, but did not give his name.

The authorities said a criminal investigation of the attack has begun. 

Four Saudi policemen were killed and four others were wounded on 20 April in an attack targeting a checkpoint in the southwestern province of Asir. 

The kingdom has seen numerous attacks against security forces in recent years by militants, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

It has also seen clashes between Shia militants and security forces in the eastern provinces.