The Hindu : 29 killed in Riyadh blasts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

29 killed in Riyadh blasts

The U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in front of the wrecked buildings in Riyadh on Tuesday. — Reuters

RIYADH MAY 13. Attackers shot their way into three housing compounds in synchronised strikes in the Saudi capital and then set off multiple suicide car bombs, killing at least 29, including the nine attackers, officials reported on Tuesday.

Seven Americans were believed to be among the victims. Earlier, a U.S. State Department official had said the attack killed 91 people.

The authorities found nine charred bodies believed to be those of the suicide attackers, according to a Saudi Interior Ministry official who earlier had put the toll at seven Americans, seven Saudis, two Jordanians, two Filipinos, one Lebanese and one Swiss. The official Saudi Press Agency quoted the unidentified Saudi official as saying the attackers also wounded 194, most of them slightly.

The bombings constituted the deadliest terror attack on Americans since September 11, 2001, and the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said the coordinated strike had ``the earmarks of al-Qaeda.''

There was no claim of responsibility. If the al-Qaeda connection is confirmed, it would show that Osama bin Laden's network is still capable of mounting coordinated attacks, even in one of the world's most tightly policed countries.

The Riyadh attack came as the United States is pulling out most of the 5,000 troops it had based in Saudi Arabia, whose presence fuelled anti-American sentiment. The Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying that the attackers used cars packed with explosives in "suicide operations". The attacks were followed by a smaller bombing on Tuesday near the headquarters of a Saudi-U.S. company. No casualties were reported in that bombing.

A guard at one of the housing compounds in the north-eastern section of Riyadh was quoted by the Saudi paper al-Watan as saying that seven cars exploded there, all apparently carrying suicide bombers. At least three bodies could be seen lying on the ground on Tuesday morning. — AP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Centre, States differ on deployment of Army

29 killed in Riyadh blasts

Terrorism must end for talks: PM

Shivshankar Menon new envoy to Pak.

Partial rollback of phone tariffs

Pak. to free prisoners

Cyclone threat to A.P., Orissa

Left set to sweep polls

New IA fares

Historic win for West Indies