Islamic militants using a car today attacked the heavily-guarded U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns in a explosion and gunbattle that left seven people dead and several others injured.

A car bomb exploded outside the heavily-guarded US consulate in the Saudi port city of Jeddah today, injuring several people. Hostages were understood to be held inside as a gunbattle raged in the latest strike against Western targets in the kingdom.

The mastermind of a deadly rampage that killed five belonged to a Saudi opposition group in London, according to officials in the Saudi industrial town of Yanbu today.

Saudi Arabia’s US ambassador told Americans in the oil-rich city of Yanbu: “Go home. We cannot protect you”, following the terror attack that killed six foreign workers.