The spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry says a militant bomb attack has killed a security officer and wounded six others in a predominantly Shiite town in the kingdom's restive eastern province.

Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki says in a statement, which was released on Sunday evening, that the attack targeted a security patrol in the morning hours in the al-Mosawara district in the heavily Shia opulated governorate of Qatif.

He says the wounded men are in stable condition in hospital and that an investigation is underway into this "terrorist crime."

Violence between Shia militants and security forces in the province has increased in recent weeks, with several incidents of militants firing rocket-propelled grenades at police and attacking officers.

Also, the Islamic State group has previously launched attacks on Shia in Qatif.