The 2004 Yanbu attack was an attack by gunmen against

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

on May 1, 2004, in

Yanbu' al Bahr Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 ( ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. At least four

militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

used security passes to access a local

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable ...

plant. Once on the grounds of the facility, they stormed the offices of the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

-based ABB Lummus and killed seven people. Two were Americans, two were British, one was Australian and one was a

Saudi National Guard The Saudi Arabian National Guard or SANG ( ar, الحَرَس الوَطنيّ, al-Ḥaras al-Waṭanī), also known as the "White Army", is one of the three major branches of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national gua ...

member. A Canadian worker died on May 15 of his wounds. The attackers were believed to be linked to

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

, though Crown Prince Abdullah, then

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

ruler of Saudi Arabia, disputed these claims at the time. From 2003 to 2004, militants carried out attacks against the Saudi government and foreigners living there in an effort to topple the monarchy. Less than a month after these attacks, gunmen staged a similar attack in Al-Khobar, killing 22.

External links

* Associated Press
"Saudis identify mastermind of Yanbu attack"
May 4, 2004. * K.S. Ramkumar, ''Arab News''
Memorial Service in Houston for Slain Yanbu Engineers
May 6, 2004 * APS Diplomat Recorder (via BNet)
"Al Qaeda Claims Yanbu Attack"
May 15, 2004 * CBC News
Canadian wounded in Saudi Arabia dies
May 14, 2004 Yanbu Mass murder in 2004 2004 murders in Saudi Arabia Terrorist incidents in Saudi Arabia in 2004 Mass shootings in Saudi Arabia {{Saudi-stub

See also

External links