Truck bomb seized by Saudis in raid on militants

SAUDI ARABIA’S security forces found a pick-up truck packed with more than a ton of explosives when they raided a militant cell primed to launch a “terrorist operation” in Riyadh, officials said yesterday.

State television showed footage of the truck, seized after a clash on Tuesday in which two wanted militants were killed, filled with the explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and gas cylinders to magnify the force of any explosion.

Officials say Tuesday’s raid by security forces thwarted an imminent attack during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, less than three weeks after suspected al-Qaida bombers killed at least 18 people in a residential compound in the Saudi capital.