Khobar Towers bombing
Attack
| Event Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Primary Organization | Saudi Hezbollah1 | |
 | Other Organization | Hezbollah1 | |
 | Other Organization | Al-Qaeda2 | |
| Means of Attack | Truck bomb | |
| Target | U.S. military personnel in Saudi Arabia | |
| Location | Khobar Towers military housing complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia | |
| Time | 2200 local, June 25, 1996 | |
| Victim Deaths | 191 | ||
| Victim Injuries | 3721 | ||
| Participants | Abdelkarim al-Nasser, Ahmed al-Mughassil, Ali el-Hoorie, Ibrahim al-Yacoub, Hani al-Sayegh, Mustafa al-Qassab, Abdallah al-Jarash, Hussein al-Mughis | |
| Participants | Saed al-Bahar, Saleh Ramadan, Ali al-Marhoun, Mustafa al-Mualem, Fadel al-Alawe | |
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| Narrative and Notes | |||
| Reliable | A tanker truck filled with 5,000 pounds of plastic explosives was driven into the parking lot of the Khobar Towers residential complex in Dhahran, and parked about 80 feet from a building housing 100 U.S. Air Force personnel. Sentries noted the suspicious truck and attempted an evacuation, but they had little time before the bomb was detonated. Nineteen Americans were killed, most of them from Eglin and Patrick AFBs in Florida. In June 2001, the Justice Department charged 13 Saudis and one Lebanese with the bombing. The Lebanese was identified only as "John Doe."1 | |
| Possible | It really isn't clear who is responsible for the bombing. The Saudis and Americans blamed a little-known group called "Saudi Hezbollah," which has ties to Iran and the better-known Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran denied any role in the bombing. The 9-11 Commission said evidence of Iranian involvement is strong but there are also signs al-Qaeda played a role.2 | |
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| Sources | |||
| 1FBI press release, June 21, 2001. | |||
| 2The 9-11 Commission Report, July 22, 2004, Chapter 2.4. | |||
| Photo: U.S. Air Force | |||
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| Key to bullets | |||
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| Page maintained by John Lumpkin | |||
| Click here for a disclaimer and detailed explanation of the confidence ratings. | |||
