Islamists kill three Saudi border guards including top commander

Three Saudi guards, including Gen. Odah el-Balawi, the commander of Saudi border guards in the northern region, were killed on Monday in a rare attack and suicide bombing by "terrorists" on the kingdom's border with Iraq, the interior ministry said. Four attackers were also killed in the clash, two in suicide blasts.

No group claimed responsibility, but Saudi Arabia joined the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against jihadists from the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. The statement from Riyadh said the four terrorists were “trying to cross the Saudi border.”