Gunmen have shot dead a Saudi policeman in the kingdom’s east, police said on Wednesday.

Gunmen have shot dead a Saudi policeman in the kingdom's east, police said on Wednesday.

The drive-by attack happened early on Tuesday in Qatif, a district on the Gulf coast.

Four masked men opened fire, wounding the officer who died on the way to hospital, provincial police said in a statement.

"The police building and a patrol car were damaged," said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

It was the fourth fatal shooting of a policeman in Qatif since January.

Eastern Province is home to most of Saudi Arabia's Shiites, who have long complained of marginalization in the Sunni-majority kingdom.

Parts of the eastern area have seen repeated security incidents since 2011, when the Saudi regime launched a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters who have been demanding reform.

Takfiri insurgents from the ISIL group have claimed attacks against Saudi security personnel elsewhere in the kingdom.