| 2017-2020 Qatif unrest | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Qatif conflict | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Saudi Arabia | Shia militants | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 12 killed in combat (Saudi claim) | 5 killed (activists' claim) | ||||||
|
20 civilians killed (Activists claim) Total 12–37 casualties.[4] Thousands displaced[5] | |||||||
| |||||
The 2017–2020 Qatif unrest was a phase of conflict in the Qatif region of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, between Saudi security forces and the local Shia community,[6] that arose sporadically starting in 1979,[7] including a series of protests and repression during the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests.[8]This phase of conflict began after an incident on 12 May 2017, when a child and a Pakistani man were shot and killed.[9] The detention of Qatif human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband and the possible beheading of al-Ghomgham as the first Saudi woman to be executed for her human rights activities gained international attention during 2018.[10][11][12] On 31 January 2019, the Saudi authorities confirmed in a public statement that they would not seek the imposition of the death penalty against al-Ghomgham.[13][14][15]
Background[]
Main article: Qatif conflict
Timeline[]
2017[]
- 12 May – Saudi soldiers shot and killed a two-and-a-half-year-old child and a young man in the town of Awamiyah.[1] Lebanon's al-Ahed news claimed that the mother of the child was critically injured. However, the Saudi Government claimed that terrorists were responsible for the incident.[2]
- 16 May – A Saudi soldier was killed and five more were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in a district of al-Awamiya in operations to counter the militants.[16]
- 1 June – Two people were killed in a car explosion in Al-Qatif just before Maghrib prayers. Three men involved in the attack managed to escape and are currently being hunted by security officers in the area.[17]
- 11 June – One soldier was killed and two wounded after a bomb attack in the town of Al-Awamiyah.[18]
- 4 July – A Saudi policeman was killed and three others injured by an explosive device in a flashpoint Shiite-dominated city.[19]
- 6 July – A Saudi policeman was killed and six others injured by an explosive device next to a police patrol in the village of Al-Awamiyah near Al-Qatif.[20]
- 14 July – A Saudi soldier was killed and another was wounded in a shooting attack on their patrol vehicle in Qatif province.[21]
- 26–27 July – five people killed during Police raids in Awamiya, according to activists.[22]
- 30 July – A Saudi police officer was killed and six others wounded when a patrol came under attack in the town of Awamiya.[23]
- 3 August – A Saudi citizen was killed and another injured during an operation to secure families wishing to leave Awamiya, after an armed attack by terrorists on a bus.[24]
- 7 November – Saudi security staff killed in Qatif.[25]
- 6 or 8 December – human rights activists Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband arrested.[26][27]
- 19 December – Al Arabiya sources confirmed that terrorist Salman Ali Salman al-Faraj was killed in Awamiya, eastern province of Saudi Arabia, after confrontations with the police forces.[28]
- 19 December – The body of Shiite Sheikh Mohammed al-Jirani, who had been kidnapped a year earlier by Shiite militants in the Eastern Province, was found in Qatif during a security raid.[29]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Saudi soldier killed as eastern province unrest continues". 16 May 2017. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/5/16/saudi-soldier-killed-as-eastern-province-unrest-continues.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Pakistani worker, Saudi minor killed in Qatif terror attack". 13 May 2017. http://dunyanews.tv/en/World/388163-Pakistani-worker-Saudi-minor-killed-in-Qatif-terr.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Abouzzohour, Yasmina (March 8, 2021). "The survival of Arab monarchies, 10 years after the Arab Spring". Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/03/08/heavy-lies-the-crown-the-survival-of-arab-monarchies-10-years-after-the-arab-spring/.
- ↑ "Awamiya: Inside Saudi Shia town devastated by demolitions and fighting". 16 August 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40937581. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ↑ "Unrest in Saudi Arabia town displaces thousands". 13 August 2017. http://www.aljazeera.com/video/news/2017/08/saudi-arabia-unrest-forces-thousands-homes-170813142459213.html. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ↑ "Awamiya: Inside Saudi Shia town devastated by demolitions and fighting". 16 August 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40937581.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtime_qatif_since1979 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedThReut_demosillegal - ↑ "Two, including infant, killed after ‘terror shootout’ in Saudi Arabia’s Qatif". 12 May 2017. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/05/12/-Saudi-Two-killed-after-terror-shoot-out-in-Qutaif.html.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedHRW_deathpenalty - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNewsweek_deathpen - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedguardian-harrison - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedFIDH_Drop_of_death_penalty - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedPrison_sentence - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedAI_Ghomgham_DP_dropped - ↑ "Saudi soldier killed five wounded in restive Qatif province". 16 May 2017. https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Saudi-soldier-killed-five-wounded-in-restive-Qatif-province-490907.
- ↑ "Car filled with explosives rocks Qatif in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province". 1 June 2017. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/06/01/Car-bombing-hits-Qatif-in-Saudi-Arabia-s-eastern-province.html.
- ↑ "Saudi Arabia soldier killed in Qatif bomb blast". 12 June 2017. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/saudi-arabia-soldier-killed-qatif-bomb-blast-170612051647299.html.
- ↑ "Saudi Policeman Killed by Explosive Device". 4 July 2017. http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/232392-saudi-policeman-killed-by-explosive-device.
- ↑ "Saudi policeman killed, 6 wounded in Qatif bomb attack". 6 July 2017. http://www.arabnews.com/node/1125486/saudi-arabia.
- ↑ "Saudi soldier killed, another wounded in restive Qatif province". 14 July 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-idUSKBN19Z1GU.
- ↑ "At least five dead during Saudi security operation in Qatif: activists". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-awamiya/at-least-five-dead-during-saudi-security-operation-in-qatif-activists-idUSKBN1AC2NK.
- ↑ "Policeman killed, six wounded in eastern Saudi Arabia attack | News , Middle East". 30 July 2017. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2017/Jul-30/414484-policeman-killed-six-wounded-in-eastern-saudi-arabia-attack.ashx.
- ↑ "Saudi man killed, another wounded in Awamiya terrorist attack". 3 August 2017. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/08/03/Saudi-man-killed-another-wounded-by-a-terrorist-attack-in-Awamiyah.html.
- ↑ "Saudi security man killed in Qatif". Saudi Gazette. 2017-11-06. http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/521226/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-security-man-killed-in-Qatif.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedHRW_deathpenalty2 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedShiaRightsWatch - ↑ "Most wanted man in Qatif attack killed in Saudi Arabia". Al Arabiya English. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/12/19/Most-wanted-man-in-Qatif-attack-killed-in-Saudi-Arabia.html.
- ↑ "Who is the Saudi Shiite judge found killed by his Shiite terrorist compatriots?". Al Arabiya English. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/12/21/Body-of-Shiite-cleric-kidnapped-killed-by-Shiite-terrorists-recovered-in-Qatif.html.
The original article can be found at 2017 Qatif unrest and the edit history here.