Photo via Shahzaib Akber/EPA
A gunman opened fire at local school for boys in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, killing six employees and injuring others, a senior Saudi official told local television station al Sabaq.The attacker has been arrested, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansour Turki said, adding that two people had also been wounded in the assault, which took place in the southwestern province of Jizan. Saudi Arabian news outlet al-Arabiya described it as a personal dispute between a teacher and colleagues at the school, although officials did not elaborate on the motive for the shooting.Sabaq posted a picture of emergency vehicles outside a four-story building.
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Although mass shootings are relatively rare in the Saudi Arabia, there have been several incidents of deadly violence in recent months. In January, a suicide bombing and gun attack on Shi'ite Muslim worshippers killed at least four people in eastern Saudi Arabia. In October, a gunman killed two people and injured another two at a bank in Jizan.Jizan is located near the border of Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of air strikes to fight Iranian-backed Shiite rebels, known as the Houthis. Saudi Arabia also has a sizeable Shiite minority population, which the state has significantly cracked down on since the war in Yemen began.Related: Saudi-led Bombing in Yemen Targets Civilians as Houthis Use Migrants as Human Shields???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ??????? — ????? ??? (@sabqorg)February 11, 2016