RIYADH, July 20 (AFP) - A gunfight broke out Tuesday night in a northern district of the Saudi capital between security forces and presumed wanted militants holed up in a house there, an AFP correspondent reported.
The shootout erupted when security forces stormed the house in Hisham bin Abdul Malek Street in the King Fahd neighborhood at around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT).
An explosion was heard, and heavy gunfire continued an hour and a half later, after security forces cordoned off the site and police cars blocked streets leading to the neighborhood.
Armored vehicles had been sent into the area.
A number of cars were seen abandoned in the middle of the neighbouring King Abdulaziz Road.
An eye witness told AFP he saw police cars chasing gunmen in a small Toyota truck from the Murassalat quarter to the King Fahd neighbourhood nearby.
A journalist on the scene said his car was hit during the shootout. He claimed that the firing came from the same truck.
Two policemen were injured according to another eyewitness. One of them was hit in the upper leg. He was taken to a medical centre in the neigbourhood but a police car was seen taking him away shortly after.
Al-Arabiya satellite television had reported earlier that there had been casualties in the fighting.
The incident took place ahead of the expiry later this week of a royal amnesty offered to radicals, first announced on June 23. Since then, the interior ministry has said, four people have turned themselves in.
The authorities have said that the amnesty will not be extended, and those who opt not to take advantage of it have been threatened with a harsh crackdown.
Thirteen militants on Saudi Arabia's 26-strong wanted list remain at large. The others have either been killed in clashes with security forces or surrendered.
Two days ago, the authorities also announced that 27 Saudis wanted for "security issues" had been extradited from abroad.