2004 Khobar massacre

26°19′16.84″N 50°11′32.99″E / 26.3213444°N 50.1924972°E / 26.3213444; 50.1924972

2004 Khobar Massacre
LocationKhobar, Saudi Arabia
Date29–30 May 2004
6:45 am (2004-05-29UTC06:45) – 6:30 am (2004-05-30UTC06:31) (UTC+3)
Attack type
Hostage crisis, mass murder
Deaths22
Injured25
PerpetratorsThe Jerusalem Squadron, Al-Qaeda

On 29 May 2004, a Saturday, four men armed with guns and bombs attacked two oil industry installations and a residential compound, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia—the hub of the Saudi oil industry.[1] Over approximately 25 hours, the gunmen, describing themselves as members of "The Jerusalem Squadron" or "Jerusalem Brigade", killed 22 and injured 25, mainly third country national personnel working in Khobar.[1]

Their targets were the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation building[2] and the Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre,[3] and a foreign workers' housing complex, the Oasis Compound,[4] in the Gulf city of Khobar.[5] Their victims included 19 foreigners from nine countries—eight people from India, three from the Philippines, two from Sri Lanka, one each from Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa and Egypt. According to witnesses the attackers asked the hostages if they were Christian or Muslim, letting the Muslims go with a lecture, and shooting the non-Muslims.[1] One victim was tied to the back of a vehicle and dragged through the street.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Jamestown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "APICORP – Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Petroleum Center – Khobar City". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  4. ^ "::::: Welcome to Saad Group :::::". Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  5. ^ Worldwide Incidents Tracking System Report 200458288[permanent dead link] dead link