Updated

Saudi police say they have killed two people in a shootout in an area heavily populated by minority Shiites that has been a flashpoint of anti-government protests and unrest.

Saudi Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki described the two men on Wednesday as terrorists who were wanted by police. The ministry says their names are Mohammed al-Nimr and Meqdad al-Nimr.

Al-Awamiya's most prominent Shiite cleric and anti-government critic Nimr al-Nimr was executed in January 2016 on terror charges. It was not immediately clear if the three al-Nimrs were related.

Al-Turki says four others were arrested during the raid on a farm in the eastern province village of al-Awamiya.

He says police seized weapons, ammunition and material to make explosives with. No security personnel were wounded in the raid.