Customs authorities seized almost 31kg of explosives and detonators from a car trying to enter Saudi Arabia from Bahrain at King Fahad Causeway yesterday, said a report.

Eleven tin-coated bags containing highly explosive RDX paste, two bags with 25 primers and a bag with a 6m detonation fuse were seized from a Ford Fusion car, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, citing a Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman.

He added that smugglers had been arrested, without giving details of the number of people arrested.

Saudi security officials have launched an inquiry with their counterparts in Bahrain to identify the suspects, the report staated.

Separately, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that a policeman was shot dead in a southern district of Riyadh yesterday.

Policeman Majid Al Ghamdy was patrolling the area at 7.30pm when he was shot from an unidentified car, it added.-TradeArabia News Service