By Steve Macko
& Clark Staten
Two explosions, one of which was said to be a car bomb, exploded at a Saudi Arabian National Guard training facility in the middle of the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday morning. Six people, including five Americans were killed and 60 people, 34 of whom were also Americans, were injured. Four of the dead victims were reported to be civilians employed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the other two victims were military officers. Three of the injured victims were reported to be in critical condition. The United States reportedly leases space at the facility.
Two previously unknown groups claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack that occurred at about 11:30 a.m.(0330 EST, 0830 GMT). However, Saudi authorities are saying that they had received warnings of an impending attack. A phone call was made to an international news agency after the blast. The caller identified himself as being with a previous unknown group called the "Tigers of the Gulf." The caller said that they were responsibile for the car bombing and "If the Americans don't leave the Kingdom as soon as possible we will continue our actions." It was also reported that another unknown group is claiming to be responsible for the bombing.
A spokesperson at the United States Embassy in Riyadh said, "I am told the explosion was massive and the damage was considerable." The U.S. Embassy also said that they understand that the bomb exploded in a parking lot at the facility. 30 vehicles were reportedly destroyed or burned in the blast.
After the explosion, there was an ensuing fire in the three-story building that was the apparent target. A spokesman for the the United States Defense Department in Washington said that the Pentagon's National Military Command Center had received a preliminary report indicating that there had been two explosions, an initial large one and a secondary smaller one, about five minutes apart. Even though it is known that terrorists will leave a second explosive device after an initial bomb blast so that rescuers will be wounded -- the second blast, in this instance, may have been caused by the gas tank of one of the vehicles exploding in the ensuing fire. But this has not been confirmed by authorities.
Saudi Arabian authorities said that the explosion was a deliberate act of terrorism and the Saudi government was confident of "arresting those who carried out this crime."
President Clinton reacted strongly to the attack on Monday morning. The President said, "We have already begun the process of determining what happened and who, if anyone, was responsible. We will devote an enormous effort to that." Clinton also said, "We it to them and to all of our citizens to increase our efforts to deter terrorism, to make sure that those responsible for this hideous act are brought to justice, to intensify and pressure the isolation of countries that support terrorism ... and we must spare no effort to make sure our own law enforcement officers have what they need to protect our citizens."
A special team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, headed by a supervisor from the bureau's National Security division is being sent to Saudia Arabia to assist in the investigation. A dozen Special Agents from the FBI that includes evidence specialists and two bomb specialists from the FBI laboratory are being sent. Included in the special team are two language specialists and an evidence response team from the Boston office whose job it will be to gather and catlogue evidence.
(c) Emergency Response & Research Institute, 1995, All rights reserved.