Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militia claimed responsibility for six mortar bombs which hit a border post near northern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The militia called Al-Mukhtar Army and Iraq's al-Mukhtar Army militia claimed responsibility for the bombings which were reportedly a warning to keep Saudi Arabia out of Iraqi affairs, according to Reuters. The bombings came shortly after Sunni rebel groups attacked the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last week.
"The goal was to send a warning message to Saudis to tell them that their border stations and patrol are within our range of fire," Wathiq al-Batat, commander of Iraq's al-Mukhtar Army militia, told Reuters in Baghdad by telephone.
The desert area where the mortar bombs hit were on the northwestern edge of the kingdom's oil-producing region hundreds of miles from the major oil fields operated by the largest exporter and biggest Arab economy, Reuters reported.
Batat told Reuters the militia wanted Riyadh to stop "interfering" in Iraq. Groups have also been angered by Saudis and Kuwaitis who Batat said insulted the Prophet Mohammad's daughter. Iran has not released a statement on the mortar bombings.
Major-General Mansour Turki, the Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, said Iraq, Kuwait and the kingdom are all investigating the mortar bombings, but Baghdad claims it is not involved, according to Reuters.
"There were no rockets or anything fired towards the Saudi border by security forces," Jabar al-Sa'adi, head of Basra provincial council's security committee, told Reuters.
A border guard, General Mohammed al-Ghamdi, told Reuters "six mortar rounds fell in an uninhabited area near the new al-Auja border guard centre of Hafr al-Batin in Eastern Province," but "thank God, no damage resulted."
Those behind the attacks, Batat and the Al-Mukhtar Army said they will continue until their demands are met, Reuters reported.
"This is just the beginning and there will be more attacks if they (the Saudis) do not stop," Batat said, according to Reuters.
