Теракт в Эль-Хобере 2004 года

2004 terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia

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. and the Al Khobar Petroleum Centre, and a foreign workers' housing complex, the Oasis Compound, in the Gulf city of Khobar. 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. Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor identified its leader as Turki bin Fahd al Moteiri (known as Fawwaz al Nashami).

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.

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.

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.

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.