Forty-six Saudi women have joined ISIS since 2011, MOI says

More than 40 Saudi women, some with their children, have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group since 2011, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Interior told Al Hayat newspaper.

The most recent of the 46 Saudi women to join ISIS travelled to Syria in July along with her children and a number of women, the Arabic daily reported.

Upon arriving in ISIS-controlled territory, the woman - who Al Hayat kept anonymous - declared on her Twitter account that she would commit a suicide attack “soon.”

The 40-year-old is reportedly from the Sajir governorate, which lies 270 kilometers north-west of Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia launched a crackdown on ISIS supporters in the kingdom after two separate attacks by loyalists to the militant group killed scores of people earlier this year.

Of the 1,677 suspects detained by authorities and charged with supporting ISIS, 1375 are Saudi while 302 are foreign residents from 31 countries.

In July, Saudi Arabia arrested 431 people as part of a crackdown on a cluster of cells linked to ISIS.

Authorities also thwarted seven mosque attacks that had been planned by the suspects in the capital Riyadh as well as the Eastern Province, MOI Spokesman Al Turki said in a press conference carried by Al Arabiya News Channel in July.

Among the arrested were Saudi nationals and suspects from nine other nationalities, he said adding that the cluster of cells was divided by tasks and target, he told reporters.