Riyadh - Two policemen were wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on a checkpoint in south-western Saudi Arabia, local media reported Tuesday.

The local daily al-Riyadh said that five gunmen in a car on Monday opened fire on the checkpoint and escaped to the southern town of Khamis Mashit.

The attack comes days after Saudi Arabia's deputy interior minister in Jeddah survived an assassination attempt by a man wanted on terrorism charges.

The suicide bomber blew himself in the minister's office on Thursday after announcing that he was giving himself up and wanted to meet the minister, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is responsible for security in the kingdom.

While praising security forces "who are working with vigilance to thwart terrorist plans and acts," King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz late Monday said Saudi Arabia would continue fighting terrorism.

Al-Riyadh newspaper also reported that security forces arrested three suspected terrorists in the city of Medina on Monday.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Saudi security forces said Tuesday that Saudi forces in the Jazan region near the Yemeni border seized a huge cache of explosives and weapons that were being smuggled into the kingdom. The smugglers themselves escaped into Yemen, after abandoning their cargo.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia arrested 44 people believed to be part of the al-Qaeda terrorist network who had sought to recruit young people and use charitable donations to finance terrorist activities.

In July, a special court in Riyadh convicted 330 people in what was the first known Saudi trial of suspects accused of plotting terrorist attacks on behalf of al-Qaeda. (dpa)