The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These suicide attacks, attributed to al-Qaeda, were the first of several "spectacular attacks" carried out by that group in 2003, and the deadliest attack on Americans that year. Altogether, some twenty-six people were killed, and over 160 wounded. May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Riyadh from space, April 1994 Ministry of the Interior Faisaliah Centre King Fahad Int. ... 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. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

One of the bombed compounds.

Early in May, the US State Department warned that terrorists were in the final stages of planning terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government also warned of this, and issued an alert for 19 men believed to be planning attacks. Image File history File links This picture is from this site, Rewardsforjustice, and is in the public domain. ... Image File history File links This picture is from this site, Rewardsforjustice, and is in the public domain. ... This article is about the month of May. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...

Late on May 12, while much of Riyadh was asleep, four vehicles drove through Riyadh; two cars, a pickup, and an SUV. Two carried heavily armed assault teams and three of them were packed with explosives. Their targets were three compounds: The Dorrat Al Jadawel, a compound owned by MBI International and Partners, the Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corporation Compound, a compound owned by a Virginia-based defense contractor that was training the Saudi National Guard. All contained large numbers of Americans and Westerners. May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... A sport utility vehicle (SUV) or off-roader, known in some countries as a four wheel drive, (often abbreviated to 4WD or 4x4 - pronounced four-by-four), is a type of passenger vehicle which combines the load-hauling and passenger-carrying capacity of a large station wagon or minivan with... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... An international Corporation based in the United States with strong military and political connections, whose most recent claim to fame is their training of portions of the Saudi Arabian Military. ... State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Tim Kaine (D-Governor Elect) Senators John Warner (R) George Allen (R) Official language(s) English Area 110,862 km² (35th)  - Land 102,642 km²  - Water 8,220 km² (7. ... The Saudi Arabian National Guard or SANG (aka White Army) is one of five branches or services of the Saudi Arabian Defence Forces/military. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...

Around 11:15 PM, a car packed with explosives and five or six terrorists, quietly attempted to gain entry to the Jadawel compound's back gate area. As the guards aproached to inspect the vehicle, the terrorists suddenly opened fire, immediately killing one Saudi Air Force policeman and one unarmed Saudi civilian security guard. The attackers sprayed gunfire wildly as they assaulted the inner compound gate, wounding two other unarmed security guards, one of whom managed to secure the gates before fleeing. While the terrorists were still attempting to get inside the compound, their masive explosive charge suddenly detonated, killing all of the attackers and a Filipino worker.

At the Al Hamra Oasis Village and the Vinnell Corp. compound, the assault teams shot the security guards outside the compound gates. They then opened the gates with the security controls and a second team drove their trucks into the compounds. As they fired wildly, they screamed phrases like "God is Great!". They then detonated both of their bombs, devastating the compounds.

Altogather at least 26 people died, including nine Americans. The nationalities of the other dead were seven Saudis, three Filipinos, two Jordanians, and one each from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Lebanon and Switzerland. In addition, nine suicide bombers died, bringing the entire toll from the attacks to 35. More than 160 other people were injured, including more than two dozen Americans.

US President George W. Bush was informed of the attacks while on a national trip, and called them "ruthless murder". Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah condemned the attacks as the work of "monsters" and vowed to destroy the terrorist group that ordered them. After the attacks, Saudi Arabia began a harsh crackdown on terror, arresting more than 600 terrorist suspects and seizing bomb equipment, guns, bomb belts, and thousands of weapons meant for a terrorist campaign around the kingdom. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, born 1924) became the King of Saudi Arabia on August 1, 2005. ...

The US believes that al-Qaeda, who claimed responsibility later, was behind the attacks. Bombings in Casablanca, Morocco four days later led the US to raise its terror threat level from yellow to orange. 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. ... The Casablanca Attacks were a series of suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. ... Casablanca from space Hassan II Mosque A view on the Boulevard de Paris in central Casablanca Parc de la Ligue Arabe Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء, transliterated ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. ... In the United States, the Homeland Security Advisory System is a color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale. ...

There was one more large-scale attack in Saudi Arabia in 2003. On November 8, on the day the US State Department warned of further attacks in that country, a suicide truck bomb detonated outside the Muhaya Complex in Riyadh, killing 18 people and wounding 122. Those killed in the attack were all Arabs, many of them workers from Muslim countries such as Egypt and Lebanon. This attack turned some Muslim support of al-Qaeda away, since it killed mostly Muslims. November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 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. ...

See also

• Insurgency in Saudi Arabia
• Khobar Towers bombing (1996)
• Khobar massacres (2004)

This is a timeline of the terrorist incidents in Saudi Arabia derived from reports in the Saudi media and other sources. ... 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 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, in the Gulf city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. ...

External links

• Shock and Fear in Riyadh (CBS News)
• Information on attacks