ISIS claims responsibility for attack on Shia prayer hall

London: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for killing five people in a Shia prayer hall in Saudi Arabia.

According to The Independent, a group name "Bahrain Province", a branch of Isis in the country posted a statement online after the attack, claiming responsibility of the attack.

In the statement, it named the gunman as Shuja al-Dosari and said that he used a Kalashnikov rifle to attack worshippers as "they finished their polytheist rituals."

The gunman which killed five people was later shot dead by police in a gunbattle in Saihat which left nine other people injured.

The Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry in a statement though has declined to comment on the likely motives or identity of the gunman.

Bahrain Provinces has appeared as the third ISIS branch in the Arabian Peninsula this year.

The other two branches have earlier claimed responsibility for various attacks on Shiites and security forces which

overall killed 70 people.

The Friday's attack has come two days after the start of the Ashura commemorations, one of the holiest dates in the calendar for Shia Muslims.

According to an eyewitness, the gunman randomly started shooting at people present in the Shia hall.

Seven people were killed during Ashura last year by gunmen in the town of al-Dalwa.