Details remain very sketchy but there is elevating talk that a coup attempt has been made against King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Heavy gunfire was heard around the sprawling royal palace complex overnight in the Kingdom, and various reports state that the King had been moved to a safe bunker complex at an air base nearby. Other sources say it may be a terror attack or an assault by Houthi forces that infiltrated the country, or even the result of a small drone overflying a palace checkpoint. So at this point, we really don’t have a definitive answer as to what is going on.
It’s not as if the crown doesn’t have its enemies among major Saudi military and business power players. After arresting, holding captive, and stripping funds and powerful positions from some of the country’s most elite royals, and pushing through reforms and a foreign policy agenda that would have been considered radical a year ago, there is no doubt that the sitting royal family is a major target.
King Salman’s son, Mohammad Bin Salman, who is widely viewed as the primary force behind moderate reforms made under his father’s reign, and will likely be the named king in the near future, is probably the biggest target for those in the Royal apparatus that diverge from his vision for the country.
