Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Suicide Bombing at a Shiite Mosque in Saudi Arabia

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attacked a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, after the bomber detonated himself in the parking lot and killed four people.

Friday's bombing took place at the busy Imam Hussein mosque in the port city of Dammam, the Associated Press reported. Video taken inside the mosque shows the aftershock from the explosion. Rows of men can be seen sitting prior to the detonation, with many visibly startled after the bomb goes off.

There are conflicting reports regarding what occurred during the attack. State-run media outlet Saudi Press Agency said security guards stopped a vehicle in the parking lot, but the man blew himself up before they reached the car. An eyewitness, however, told the AP that the bomber had actually tried to enter the mosque, but young man chased him out. Entrance checkpoints had reportedly been set up at the building.

"They chased the suicide bomber when he tried to enter the women's section of the mosque in the south entrance," the witness, Mohammed Idris, told the AP. He also told the media outlet that one of the dead included 25-year-old Abdul-Jalil Abrash, who had graduated from an American university.

A separate, unidentified witness said he saw the body parts of the suicide bomber in the parking lot, although officials have not confirmed that the attacker was included in the four reported dead.

Watch the VICE News documentary The Islamic State here:

[ooyalacontent_id="hud21udDqpxJ5PQrebkzdwAZ-eHbWBbW"player_id="YjMwNmI4YjU2MGM5ZWRjMzRmMjljMjc5" auto_play="1" skip_ads="0"]

Following the incident, IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the militant group's supposed extension in Najd Province, a region in the central Arabian Peninsula, had carried out the bombing. A post on IS's Facebook page identified the assailant as Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi, a so-called "soldier of the caliphate." They said he had blown himself up at "an evil gathering of those filth in front of one of their shrines in Dammam." IS, along with other Sunni extremist groups, sees Shiites as apostates who deserve to be killed.

This is the second attack waged by the extremist group in the Sunni-majority country in recent weeks, with the explosion sending a black cloud of smoke into the air and setting vehicles on fire. Last week, a suicide bombing in the eastern Qatif region, also at a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, left 21 people dead, in what was the kingdom's most violent militant assault since 2004.

The Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia has long complained of discrimination, as both IS and ultraconservative groups in the Gulf nation view them as heretical.

Related: Saudi Arabia Has Already Topped Last Year's Total Number of Executions