Saudi Arabia Arrests 93 Members of Islamic State, Foils Terror Plots

Saudi Arabia's government announced this week that it had recently arrested 93 members of the Islamic State terror group in its country, five of whom are Saudi nationals.

The arrests reportedly took place in December, the official Saudi Press Agency reported this week, adding that the arrests led to the thwarting of multiple terror plots.

The press agency said that one of the terror plots included a suicide bombing at the US embassy in the country's capital of Riyadh.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said in a statement to the Associated Press that although five of those arrested were Saudi nationals, the Saudi government does not believe that most of the country's population sides with the extreme beliefs of the Islamic State.

"We do have a number of people who do respond to such calls and do try to carry out such terrorist organizations' orders, but these people do not represent the Saudi population, do not represent the 20 million Saudis," he told the Associated Press before announcing the arrests.

The recent arrests in Saudi Arabia come after six arrests were made in Minnesota and San Diego, California after authorities accused the men of trying to travel overseas to join the Islamic State in Syria.

"These are focused young men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization, by any means possible," Andrew Luger, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, told KARE 11.

"We have a terror-recruiting problem in Minnesota," Luger said. "The problem will not go away unless we address it head-on. It's not a Somali problem, it's not an immigrant problem. It's our problem. It's a Minnesota problem."