2004 Khobar massacre

Most news describe the attackers being four in number. Claiming responsibility was a previously unheard-of militant group calling itself "The Jerusalem Squadron" or 'Jerusalem Brigade' of the 'Mujahedin of the Arabian Peninsula'—a local Saudi Arabia-based faction of al-Qaeda. The group said it was attacking "Zionists and Crusaders" who are in Saudi Arabia to "steal our oil and resources." According to the then Saudi Ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the goal of the terrorists was to harm Saudi Arabia's stability and harm its economy. Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor identified its leader as Turki bin Fahd al-Moteiri (also known as Fawaz al-Nashimi). Kidnappers asked the hostages if they were Christian or Muslim, letting the Muslims go, and slitting the throats of non-Muslims. In a 3000 word account of the killings posted on a website, Fawaz al-Nashimi, the operation's commander, describes the killing of an Italian expatriate after the captive has pleaded for his life. Brother Husayn spotted the Italian infidel lout. He pointed his weapon at him and ordered him to approach. The infidel lout approached. We examined his identification papers and decided to contact Al-Jazeera so that he could address his countrymen and send them a message warning against fighting a war against Islam and its people. We would then cut his throat to send a message to the Italians who are fighting our brothers in Iraq and to the idiot leader of Italy, who wants to confront the lions of Islam. We contacted Al-Jazeera. I told the announcer to talk to him [the Italian]. He began to talk to him. The announcer asked me, "Does he speak English?" I told the announcer, "Do you have Italian translators?" He said, "Yes." I said, "So let him speak his language." He spoke for several minutes. I asked the announcer, "Did you record that?" He said, "Yes." Then the hero Nimr cut his throat. Saudi security forces have been criticized for allowing the perpetrators to move freely from one target to another as late as five hours into the attack, to eat and sleep at the hotel and to give an interview to al-Jazeera television over the phone during their operation. Government forces also failed to prevent the attackers from fighting their way out of the compound and escaping. According to author Michael Griffin, the seeming "impotence" of the security forces and the "stolen SUVs, pilfered uniforms and a freedom in their savagery" of the attackers, may indicate that the attacks were "condoned, if not encouraged, by the security forces set up" to protect the foreign workers. ==Timeline of the attack==

Sources for attack details Various accounts exist of the precise details of this attack. Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre At 06:45 a group of four terrorists, separate from the group that attacked the Oasis compound, arrive in a vehicle and shot at guards and employees around the front gate of the Al-Khobar Petroleum Centre, which is next to the DHL building on the main Doha to Khobar road. An American and two Filipinos protecting the American were killed. Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation Building At 7:15 terrorists in a vehicle attacked the Apicorp Compound. The compound is a quarter of a mile away down the Khobar Dammam highway next to Raka compound. They used an RPG on the gatehouse and killed two security guards. A school bus was coming out at the time and was shot at, killing a 10-year-old Egyptian boy who was the son of an Apicorp employee. Michael Hamilton, British, a leading member of the Apicorp Corporation, who had just dropped his wife off, arrived at the gate. His car was shot at and the gunmen dragged him out of the car still alive and tied him to the back of their four-wheel-drive vehicle, driving up the Raka road to the Dammam highway. Hamilton's facial features were unrecognizable when his body and car were later found dumped under a causeway. The terrorist vehicle with Hamilton tied behind made it as far as the intersection lights before a Saudi civilian rammed their car off the road. The terrorist shot the Saudi dead before he could get out of his car. The police shot the terrorists before they could make their escape. In honour of Michael Hamilton's death, British International School of Al Khobar (BISAK) named one of their halls after him. The terrorists killed one American—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 Johansson worked. According to an account by terrorist Fawaz al-Nashimi, captives were also executed with bullets to the head. Emergency response in schools away from attack sites The British and American schools around Khobar and Dhahran were put on lock-down during the terror attacks. In Dhahran, British Grammar School and the Dhahran primary and middle schools as well as the high school (all on the same campus next to the American consulate), children were not released from school until over an hour after the usual time. International Indian School, Dammam (IISD) is a school about 30 minutes away in Dammam. Several of their students lived in the Dhahran/Khobar area. The school was on lockdown until it was time for school to dismiss, with many of the pupils not knowing what was happening. Many area schools ended the term a few weeks early due to the events. ==Aftermath of the attacks==

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. The attack provided "a significant morale boost for al-Qaeda" according to the Jamestown Terrorism Monitor. Several of the nearby compounds like al Mohawis, Rolaco, TIG, al Bustan, and others had around 3 to 6 Saudi army soldiers stationed at the gates checking each car thoroughly before allowing them in (including residents). Security at Oasis was hyped to the point where there was a lane out of each of the surrounding streets that was taken and dedicated to security lines. Each lane was blocked from the road by barricades, and eyewitnesses describe it as pretty much impenetrable. There were several stages of army protection including thorough checkups. Each army personnel was armed with machine guns. Several schools shut down a few weeks early including ISG schools like Dhahran Academy and ISG Dammam. In early 2016, Saudi Arabia executed some of the surviving terrorists who were arrested in 2004. They were executed alongside Shiekh Nimr. ==In popular culture==

The event was featured in the American action thriller films The Kingdom and Zero Dark Thirty. ==See also==