Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has reported the arrest of additional alleged members of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The Interior Ministry said Saudi authorities arrested 77 people linked to ISIL. The ministry said the ISIL network was headed by a Saudi national.

“The head maintained links with ISIL,” the Interior Ministry said.

In a statement on Nov. 24, the Interior Ministry said the alleged ISIL network received orders from outside Saudi Arabia. The ministry said the orders included an attack on a Shi’ite village in the Ahsa province.

“Four men, including the leader of their cell, who is linked to IS, conducted the terror attack,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.

The Nov. 3 attack on Ahsa, in which seven Shi’ites were killed outside a mosque, was said to have been conducted by three members of the ISIL network. Officials said the operation was meant to spark a confrontation between Sunnis and Shi’ites in the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom.

The Interior Ministry said the ISIL network included those from Jordan, Syria and Turkey. The ministry said security forces raided suspected ISIL strongholds and that 32 of the detainees had been previously jailed.

“On the basis of the clues received, the security forces carried out several simultaneous operations in different parts of the country and arrested all the members of the terror organization,” Al Turki said. “This includes those who pledged their loyalty to the commander of the terror organization, participants, supporters, financiers and their protectors. The police faced some resistance during the arrests.”

  Saudis arrest 77 in ISIL network said coordinated from outside country, WorldTribune.com