A Saudi soldier died in a gunbattle with militants in the western Taif region outside Makkah on Sunday, state news agency SPA said.

Two assailants opened fire on a police station before retreating to the mountain village of Thaqeef where the soldier, named as private Saeed Al-Harithy, was killed in an exchange of fire, SPA reported.

Troops found an explosive vest and bomb-making material and the security operation was ongoing, the news agency added.

Saudi forces have been caught up in an escalating confrontation with Islamic State militants in the last week after troops shot dead two Islamic State fighters and two others blew themselves up in a raid on their compound outside the holy city of Makkah on Thursday.

Two other Islamic State suspects were killed and a third was wounded in southwestern Bisha province on Sunday. - Reuters