RIYADH (AFP) - Two suspects blew themselves up on Saturday (Jan 21) during a firefight with security forces in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia, officials said.

The two men "committed suicide by detonating their explosive belts" during a security operation against a suspected "terrorist" hideout in a southern district of Jeddah, the region's authorities said on Twitter.

They did not give immediate details about the operation or identify the bombers, but said the raid had been successfully carried out after a shootout with the suspects.

Earlier this month, Saudi security forces shot and killed two suspected Islamic militants including an explosive belt maker during a police operation in the north of Riyadh.

At the end of October, authorities said they had foiled a plot to bomb a football stadium in Jeddah during a World Club qualifying match and dismantled two "terrorist" cells linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

Since late 2014, ISIS has claimed a series of bombings and shootings against Shi'ites in the Sunni-majority kingdom, as well as against security forces.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led international coalition that has been battling ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq.