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Encyclopedia > 2004 Khobar massacre
Attacks by al-Qaeda
WTC bombing – 1st Khobar – Africa embassies – USS Cole – September 11 – Ghriba – Mombasa – Riyadh – Istanbul – 2nd Khobar – Amman – Algiers

In the 29 May 2004 Al-Khobar massacres in Saudi Arabia, four Islamist terrorists attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex, the Oasis Compound, in the Gulf city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. It was reported that the kidnappers asked the hostages if they were Christian or Muslim, letting the Muslims go. Combatants al-Qaeda United States (primary) +other countries Commanders Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri George W. Bush Many others Casualties Unknown 3,500+ dead The Al-Qaeda terror campaign started in 1996 with the Khobar Towers bombing. ... In the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (February 26, 1993) a car bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists in the underground parking garage below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City. ... Building #131 after the explosion Khobar Towers is part of an housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran. ... In the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings (August 7, 1998), 257 people were killed and over 4,000 wounded in simultaneous car bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. ... The USS Cole bombing was a suicide bombing attack against the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... The Ghriba synagogue bombing was a deadly bombing carried out in Tunisia by the al-Qaeda terrorist group on the El Ghriba synagogue. ... On November 28, 2002, the Mombasa hotel bombing took place. ... The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ... The Istanbul bombings were two truck bomb attacks carried out on two days in November 2003. ... Amman, the capital city of Jordan. ... The 2007 Algiers bombings occurred on April 11, 2007 when two suicide car bombs exploded in the Algerian capital Algiers. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Khobar Corniche Khobar (also written al-Khobar or al-Khubar ; Arabic: الخبر) is a large city located in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian/Persian Gulf. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ...

The Oasis Compound, 6 days later (bullet holes still visible). This is only one of several buildings on the Oasis Compound, but it's where the terrorists were holed up the longest.
The Oasis Compound, 6 days later (bullet holes still visible). This is only one of several buildings on the Oasis Compound, but it's where the terrorists were holed up the longest.

On May 30, Saudi Special Emergency Forces stormed the compound where the terrorists held the hostages. Despite dramatic live footage, three of the terrorists had already escaped, by stealing a car and using hostages as human shields. Another was captured. Altogether 41 hostages were freed, 25 were injured and 22 were killed, among them 19 foreigners. It is widely believed that Saudi security forces somehow facilitated the perpetrators' escape, given that it was broad daylight and the Oasis compound was surrounded by hundreds of armed soldiers, police officers, and reporters at the time the terrorists managed to escape. is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Special Emergency Force (قوة الطوارئ الخاصة) is a special operations counter-terrorism unit of the Saudi Arabian Defence Forces. ...


The nationalities of those killed included eight people from India, three from the Philippines, two from Sri Lanka, one each from Sweden, Italy, England, the United States, South Africa and Egypt. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130...


Several of the hostages had their throats slit, among them an Italian cook, Antonio Amato (35), and a Swedish maitre d', Magnus Johanssons (50), both of whom had taken jobs in Saudi Arabia for the higher pay. The terrorists' intended targets were Americans, but they only managed to kill one: Frank Floyd, an assistant marketing director for Resources Sciences Arabia Ltd. Most of the killings took place inside the compound's Italian restaurant, Casa Mia, where Amato and Johanssons worked.


Following the attacks, some foreign workers either fled the country or were evacuated by the companies they worked for, as they felt it was too dangerous to stay. Several thousand other Americans and other Westerners, notably those who worked for Saudi Aramco and lived on Saudi Aramco's Dhahran compound nearby, decided to stay in the area. Generally, Westerners in Saudi Arabia are paid well, receive impressive benefits and ample vacation time. Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia (formerly just Aramco, standing for the Arabian American Oil Company), is the largest oil corporation in the world and the worlds largest in terms of proven crude oil reserves and production. ... This article is about Dhahran, the city. ...


A previously unheard-of militant group calling itself "The Jerusalem Squadron" -- a local Saudi Arabia-based faction of al-Qaeda -- claimed responsibility and said it was attacking "Zionists and Crusaders" who are there to "steal our oil and resources". An audio tape was released in which Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, thought to be one of al-Qaeda's leaders in Saudi Arabia, took responsibility. On the tape he said "among the killed was a Japanese [sic] who was slaughtered because USA have mixed his tribe into the war against Muslims." According to the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the goal of the terrorists was to shake Saudi Arabia's stability and economy. Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ... Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin (also Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin or Abu Hazim) (1972 or 1973 - June 18, 2004) was an al-Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia. ... Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (Arabic: ‎, born March 2, 1949) is a highly influential Saudi politician and was Saudi ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005. ...


The British and American schools around Khobar and Dhahran were put on lock-down during the terror attacks. In Dharahn British grammar school, children were not released from school until over an hour after the usual time. During the same day, shooting broke out in downtown Khobar, about twenty minutes away. A few British nursery workers were rescued from the Oasis compound, and were returned to the Las Dunas compound, where their families and friends had been waiting in suspense.


Also that day the Apicorp Compound was attacked at around 7:00 A.M. The first target was Michael Hamilton, a leading member of the Apicorp Corporation, who was going to pick his wife from the embassy. His car was shot at and his body was taken out and dragged so much that his facial features were unrecognizable when his body and car were later found dumped under a causeway. The attack took place directly outside Apicorp's security gate and two security guards were killed. Unfortunately a school bus was coming out at the time and was shot at, killing a 9-year old Egyptian boy who was the son of an Apicorp employee. Thus Apicorp's headquarters were attacked from outside, but not infiltrated. It is thought that had the attackers not found Hamilton first, they would have entered the compound and attacked residents, thereby increasing casualties.


See also

Khobar Corniche Khobar (also written al-Khobar or al-Khubar ; Arabic: الخبر) is a large city located in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian/Persian Gulf. ... The Insurgency in Saudi Arabia is an armed conflict in Saudi Arabia between radical Sunni Muslim fighters, believed to be associated with al-Qaeda, against the Saudi monarchy. ... Building #131 after the explosion Khobar Towers is part of an housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran. ... The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ...

External links

  • "Saudis storm besieged compound" on CNN, 2004-5-30

 

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