RIYADH, November 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - One "militant" was killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces in the capital Riyadh Thursday, November 6, while two others blew themselves up in Makkah to evade capture.

"As security forces were checking a terrorists' hideout in the al-Suwaidi neighborhood of Riyadh, some terrorist elements fled the place firing machine-guns and (hurling) bombs," an interior ministry official was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"The security forces responded appropriately. One of the terrorists was killed and eight security men were slightly wounded," he said.

Eight security men were slightly wounded in the shootout.

At least five suspects were detained, according to a member of the security forces, who continued to cordon off the site several hours after the dawn clash.

In another development, two "terrorists" blew themselves up in Al-Sharaeh district of Makkah as security forces closed in on them, security sources said.

"The incident happened as security forces hunted for wanted militants," one security official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), requesting anonymity.

No details were immediately available on how the pair blew themselves up.

The incident came three days after Saudi authorities announced foiling an "evil" plot by Al-Qaeda fighters to kill pilgrims who throng to the holy city during Ramadan.

A shootout Monday, November 3, left two "terrorists" dead in the streets of Makkah.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz described the two killed as part of an eight-member Al-Qaeda cell, adding two of their accomplices surrendered and four others were captured.

Security sources in Makkah said police scoured the Al-Sharaeh area where the clash took place, the same neighborhood where the two militants later blew themselves up.

Witnesses said security forces used searchlights in the rugged region, as helicopters buzzed overhead, but it was not clear if any arrests were made.

Saudi Arabia launched a massive crackdown on militants after May 12 triple bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh that left 35 people dead.

There have since been frequent shootouts in which both security men and militants have been killed or wounded, including one in August 2003 in the same neighborhood where Thursday's clash occurred.

Hundreds of "suspected militants" have also been detained.