Khobar Towers bombing

Khobar Towers bombing
Khobar Towers bombing
Part of terrorism in Saudi Arabia
	Building #131 after the bombing.
Location	Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates	26°15′40″N 50°12′25″E / 26.261243°N 50.206825°E
Date	25 June 1996 ; 9:50 p.m. (UTC+3)
Attack type	Truck bomb
Deaths	19
Injured	498
Perpetrators	Hezbollah Al-Hejaz

The Khobar Towers bombing was a terrorist attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran and nearby King Abdulaziz Air Base on 25 June 1996. At that time, Khobar Towers was being used as living quarters for coalition forces who were assigned to Operation Southern Watch, a no-fly zone operation in southern Iraq, as part of the Iraqi no-fly zones.

A truck bomb was detonated adjacent to Building #131, an eight-story structure housing members of the United States Air Force's 4404th Wing (Provisional), primarily from a deployed rescue squadron and deployed fighter squadron. In all, 19 U.S. Air Force personnel were killed and 498 of many nationalities were wounded.^[1] The official 25 June 1996, statement by the United States named members of Hezbollah Al-Hejaz (English: 'Party of God in the Hijaz')^[2]^[3]^[4] as responsible. In 2006, a U.S. court found Iran and Hezbollah guilty of orchestrating the attack.^[5] In July 2020, a US court ordered Iran to pay $879m to the Khobar bombing survivors.^[6]

^ Ukaz Newspaper (Arabic), 10 July 1996, p.1, col. 4. Then-Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Osama Abdul Majeed Shobokshi, was quoted as putting the number of casualties at 498 and the number of deaths, all American, at 19. The report mentions no Saudi deaths. By this time, the minister said, 96% of those injured had left the hospital; the three remaining were recuperating from their injuries.
^ "Terrorism Charges Have Been Brought Against 13 Members of the Pro-Iran Saudi Hizballah" (Press release). FBI National Press Office. 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
^ "United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division: United States of America v. Ahmed al-Mughassil, [et al.] Indictment (June 2001 Term – at Alexandria)" (PDF). FBI National Press Office. 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
^ "ATTORNEY GENERAL STATEMENT [on Khobar Towers Indictment]". 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018 – via Federation of American Scientists.
^ Cite error: The named reference Held Liable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "US court orders Iran to pay $879m to 1996 Khobar bombing survivors". Arab News. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.

[Ukaz_newspaper-1] Ukaz Newspaper (Arabic), 10 July 1996, p.1, col. 4. Then-Saudi Minister of Health, Dr. Osama Abdul Majeed Shobokshi, was quoted as putting the number of casualties at 498 and the number of deaths, all American, at 19. The report mentions no Saudi deaths. By this time, the minister said, 96% of those injured had left the hospital; the three remaining were recuperating from their injuries.

[FBI-Khobar.KSA,_Towers_Bombings-2] "Terrorism Charges Have Been Brought Against 13 Members of the Pro-Iran Saudi Hizballah" (Press release). FBI National Press Office. 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018.

[3] "United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division: United States of America v. Ahmed al-Mughassil, [et al.] Indictment (June 2001 Term – at Alexandria)" (PDF). FBI National Press Office. 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018.

[4] "ATTORNEY GENERAL STATEMENT [on Khobar Towers Indictment]". 21 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2018 – via Federation of American Scientists.

[Held_Liable-5] Cite error: The named reference Held Liable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] "US court orders Iran to pay $879m to 1996 Khobar bombing survivors". Arab News. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.

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