Saudi Says 6 Shells Crash Near Iraq-Kuwait Border

Six mortar rounds crashed into a remote area of northeastern Saudi Arabia near a border triangle with Iraq and Kuwait, without causing damage, a border guard spokesman said Thursday.

General Mohammed al-Ghamidi said Saudi authorities were in "direct contact" with their neighbors to identify the source of Wednesday's shelling and to prevent a repetition.

According to Okaz newspaper's website, the rounds were fired "from the Iraqi side of the border."

"Six mortar rounds fell Wednesday in an uninhabited area near Al-Awja border crossing... in Hafr al-Batin in (oil-rich) Eastern Province, and no damage was caused," the official SPA news agency quoted Ghamidi as saying.

The report gave no further details of the incident. Residents said Saudi warplanes were flying over the area early on Thursday.

Later, the commander of a Shiite militia in Iraq claimed responsibility for the firing of rockets saying it was a warning message, LBCI reported.

Hafr al-Batin, a desert region near Iraq and Kuwait, was a command headquarters for U.S. forces during the 1991 Gulf War which expelled Iraqi occupation forces from the emirate.

The incident comes amid regional turmoil fueled by the Syrian conflict, with Riyadh backing rebels against the regime of Syria's President Bashar Assad, who is strongly supported by Iran.