RIYADH- Two Saudi security officers and two people they were trying to detain were killed in a gunfight on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, the government said, an area where minority Shi’a have staged regular anti-government protests.

Shi’a in the region complain of discrimination, a charge denied by the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter. Saudi Arabia blames Iran for the rise in tensions.

Saudi opposition activists said security forces stormed a home in Awamiya belonging to the brother of a man on a list of 23 people wanted by the authorities over unrest, before shooting dead two unarmed men they found inside.

They said one of the two was the house owner’s 22-year-old son and the other a prominent local photographer known for documenting demonstrations and protester funerals that had taken place in the area over the past three years.

The wanted man was not in the house at the time, they said.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said security forces came under fire while trying to arrest “a number of armed troublemakers” who had previously fired on residents and security forces in Awamiya, according to state news agency SPA.

It said the security forces responded to the source of shooting in accordance with standing rules.

A Riyadh court had sentenced seven men to between six and 20 years in jail on Wednesday for offenses that included taking part in protests in the town of Qatif, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.