Gunman, officer killed in Riyadh firefight
Tip led police to clash with suspected militants
(CNN) -- Saudi police battled gunmen believed to be wanted terrorists Monday night in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh. The fighting left one Saudi security officer dead, along with one militant killed and four others wounded, an Interior Ministry official said.
Journalists on the scene said three of the suspected militants escaped in a car with police in pursuit. They also said security forces remained in the area.
Police were following up on a tip that wanted men were in the area, an official at the Saudi Interior Ministry said. He said authorities did not know who the men were or how many were there.
The witnesses said gunfire could be heard after police surrounded a part of the neighborhood.
The eastern neighborhood of Riyadh is home to mainly lower-income workers.
Saudi Arabia ratcheted up its hunt for terrorists after al Qaeda-led suicide attacks struck Riyadh housing compounds in May and again in November. Forty people were killed in the attacks, and hundreds more were wounded.
In a counterterrorism operation April 5, one alleged militant was killed and another wounded. On March 15, U.S. government officials said a top al Qaeda leader in the region, Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir, had been killed in a shootout.
From CNN's Caroline Faraj in Dubai
