Terrorist groups - foreign based:
al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP): aim(s): overthrow the Saudi Islamic monarchy and, ultimately, establish a regional Islamic caliphate; eradicate Western influence and presence from Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula area(s) of operation: maintains a limited operational presence, targeting Saudi and Western interests; AQAP's senior bombmaker, Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-ASIRI, is among Saudi Arabia's most wanted for arrest
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): aim(s): replace the Saudi Islamic monarchy with an Islamic state applying ISIL's strict interpretation of Sharia; target minority Shia Muslims, Saudi security personnel, and their interests area(s) of operation: maintains a robust recruitment presence; conducts deadly strikes against Saudi security personnel and bombs Shia Muslim mosques, markets, and other places where Shia Muslims gather; suicide bombers conducted three bombings on 4 July 2016 in Jiddah, Medina, and al-Qatif, killing at least four Saudi security personnel and wounding several civilians; one bombing was close to Islam's second holiest site, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina where Muhammad is buried; ISIL's bombing and gunfire attacks in Saudi Arabia have killed dozens of people since 2014, primarily in Ash Sharquiyah Province, home to the majority of Shia Muslims living in Saudi Arabia; ISIL refers to Saudi Arabia as its Wilayat Haramayn; ISIL-Saudi Arabia was placed in the US State Department's designated global terror category under Executive Order 13224 on 19 May 2016