Saudi forces kill suspects in Abqaiq attack

Feb. 28, 2006
Saudi security forces Feb. 27 killed five men suspected of involvement in a Feb. 24 terrorist attack on the Abqaiq oil processing plant, the Interior Ministry said (OGJ Online, Feb. 24, 2006).

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 -- Saudi security forces Feb. 27 killed five men suspected of involvement in a Feb. 24 terrorist attack on the Abqaiq oil processing plant, the Interior Ministry said (OGJ Online, Feb. 24, 2006).

Officials said the suspects were traced to a building in Riyadh, where a shoot-out took place, after their cars appeared in a surveillance video at the oil facility.

The officials said another suspect was arrested elsewhere in the capital, while separate reports said a seventh suspect was arrested while attempting to enter Iraq.

Saudi authorities haven't disclosed full details of the attack on Abqaiq or the number of people they suspect were involved in it.

In the attack, the two suicide bombers driving explosives-packed cars reportedly traded fire with police at a checkpoint before a gate in the first of three fences around the complex.

One bomber drove into the closed gate and exploded his bomb, blowing a hole in the fence. The second bomber then drove through the hole before police opened fire and detonated his car.

The Interior Ministry Feb. 26 said the two suicide bombers killed in the attack were on a list of the Saudi government's most-wanted extremists.

In addition to the two attackers, two security guards were killed, while eight foreign workers at the facility, all from south Asia, were wounded.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].