Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — U.S. private security contractors have again been attacked in Saudi Arabia.

A leading U.S. contractor said two of its employees were shot and injured in the Ahsa province of Saudi Arabia on Jan. 30. The contractor, Vinnell Arabia, confirmed the second attack by assailants in the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom in three months.

“We can confirm that two Vinnell Arabia employees were involved in an incident on Friday, in which they were shot at by assailants in the Al Ahsa province of Saudi Arabia,” Vinnell said.

In a statement on Feb. 1, Vinnell gave no details of the attack in the oil-rich Eastern Province, which contains a large Shi’ite community. The company has been the prime contractor for training of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the largest force in the GCC state.

“Both employees were injured but are in stable condition at a local hospital,” Vinnell said.

The shooting, which took place from a car near a SANG base, marked at least the fourth on U.S. and Western contractors in Saudi Arabia in as many months. Islamic State of Iraq and Levant was said to have been involved in at least one insurgency strike.

In October 2014, a Vinnell staffer was shot dead and another was injured in an ambush in Riyad. The attacker was later identified as a Saudi who had been dismissed from the company.

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