<p>A gunman shot dead two Saudi guards and wounded three others at the gate of the royal palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the interior ministry said.<br /><br />Royal guards killed the gunman, identified by the ministry as a 28-year-old Saudi national armed with a Kalashnikov and three grenades.<br /><br />"An outpost of the royal guard came under fire by a person who got out of a Hyundai car," the ministry said in a statement yesterday carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.<br /><br />"He was immediately dealt with and his cowardly act also resulted in the martyrdom" of two royal guards, it added.<br /><br />The US embassy in Saudi Arabia had earlier cautioned its citizens over reports of the attack.<br /><br />"Due to the possibility of ongoing police activity, American citizens are advised to exercise caution when travelling through the area," the embassy said in a brief statement.<br /><br />The warning comes after the Saudi police raided hideouts of a "terror" cell linked to the Islamic State group this week, killing two people and arresting five others, according to the national security agency.<br /><br />The State Security Agency said police raided three hideouts in the capital Riyadh and exchanged gunfire at one of them, the SPA news agency reported on Thursday.<br /><br />Since late 2014, IS has claimed a series of bombings and shootings against Shiites and security forces in the Sunni- majority kingdom.<br /><br />Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led international coalition that has been battling the Sunni extremist group in Syria and Iraq.</p>
<p>A gunman shot dead two Saudi guards and wounded three others at the gate of the royal palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the interior ministry said.<br /><br />Royal guards killed the gunman, identified by the ministry as a 28-year-old Saudi national armed with a Kalashnikov and three grenades.<br /><br />"An outpost of the royal guard came under fire by a person who got out of a Hyundai car," the ministry said in a statement yesterday carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.<br /><br />"He was immediately dealt with and his cowardly act also resulted in the martyrdom" of two royal guards, it added.<br /><br />The US embassy in Saudi Arabia had earlier cautioned its citizens over reports of the attack.<br /><br />"Due to the possibility of ongoing police activity, American citizens are advised to exercise caution when travelling through the area," the embassy said in a brief statement.<br /><br />The warning comes after the Saudi police raided hideouts of a "terror" cell linked to the Islamic State group this week, killing two people and arresting five others, according to the national security agency.<br /><br />The State Security Agency said police raided three hideouts in the capital Riyadh and exchanged gunfire at one of them, the SPA news agency reported on Thursday.<br /><br />Since late 2014, IS has claimed a series of bombings and shootings against Shiites and security forces in the Sunni- majority kingdom.<br /><br />Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led international coalition that has been battling the Sunni extremist group in Syria and Iraq.</p>