Large explosion in my city tonight

[Acecombat 0]

Fellows i just came back home after a harrowing experience , me and my dad were on our way to the mosque tonight at nearly 12:00 am when we heard some huge explosions so we decided to check them out .... it was near one of the Foreigners compound area where mainly americans live and there was lots of smoke coming out of there and the streets were jam packed with ambulances and Police and Fire brigade , a few army units wre arriving at the scene too i smeel another AQ attack.

I'll keep you guys updated if i hear anything new for alli know this might be a false call but i think it was a terrorist attack with the level of security and bloackade the police had at the explosion site ... .. i just hope no one got badly injured or worse killed , but that explosion was big

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Nothing on BBC yet, keep us posted.

Hope you are ok

[Acecombat 0]

You wont get this on BBC man i dont think so , i saw on reporters on the scene ... YET. The army was there and so was the police first time i ever saw them with such weapons out in the public ...

But there were a lot of ambulances out there man like 15 + i think many are injured if not dead already

This is getting out of hand if this was another AQ attack i cant confirm this cause i didnt see how it happened we got there 10 mins late since the traffic was jammed and by that time the police ws already on the scene .... but there was lots smoke from the compound.... being the 27th of Ramadan a very sacred day in th muslim calendar i cant believe this happened those who IF this was Terrorist attack are behind this surely arent MUSLIMS !!!

The fact that it was a foreigners residence compound is making me feel this is a AQ attack..

Thanks for my safetys concern but i was as i said hardly 1-2km away from the blast area or maybe a bit more but i am OK.

[Koolkid101 0]

Nothing in CNN

[NurEinMensch 0]

Better stay out of trouble.

[bn880 5]

Have not heard anything about htis yet... thanks for the heads up.

[ralphwiggum 6]

nothing yet. could it be something less sinister? like some explosion of gas pipe, not related to attack, but since it is an explosion police were called in to make sure?

[Heatseeker 0]

Hmm, thats terrible Ace, havent heard anything about it yet, just glad your ok .

[Schoeler 0]

Hey AceCombat, I won't be around to get your reply as I'm leaving for Cancun in six hours, but I wanted to ask you:

Do you think AQ is doing itself any favors by attacking within Muslim countries and creating Muslim casualties? Do you see their support among the Muslim population declining because of this?

I'm really interested to know. I think AQ is basically killing its own support base.

[Tamme 0]

Hope it's not AQ. There's news about AQ blowing up things almost every day now.

It's getting out of hand. And Bush answers by boasting on TV how the americans are not giving up, "Bring it on!", how the terrorists will suffer their punishment sooner or later blah blah blah.... I think he's taking the wrong approach to solve this problem.

Glad you weren't there Ace.

[bn880 5]

Well I wonder what it is. Absolutely no news on anything sounding even remotely like an explosion etc. Hmm.

[Acecombat 0]

Hey AceCombat, I won't be around to get your reply as I'm leaving for Cancun in six hours, but I wanted to ask you:

Do you think AQ is doing itself any favors by attacking within Muslim countries and creating Muslim casualties?  Do you see their support among the Muslim population declining because of this?

I'm really interested to know.  I think AQ is basically killing its own support base.

Schoeler no dont think AQ is doing itself any favours by striking american/british interest on muslim soil , infact the effect generated is quite the opposite since many muslims are killed in the attack ratehr then foreigners which in turn has a negative effect on AQ's popularity , but for the support that you say well thats a tough question man , i mean Saudis in general dont like AQ this is the general mostly popular opinion around here and in many muslim countries .... BUT .... when people here hear about another Iraqi civilians killed or a Afghani civilian killed (like in a wedding which was bombed by USAF) ... AQ gets a slight justification in the peoples opinion here.

IF Al-Quaida had stuck to attacking american military installations and army then no doubt they might have been much mor epopular but whenever they attack a civilian target their reputation diminishes. Still its very blurry atm , more lik 50/50 .... the saturation point of this conflict is near IMO and will soon reveal who is standing where , most of it depends on the outcome of Iraq now....

BTW youre right theres been no news release about the whole incident YET...i wonder why...

[Hit_Sqd_Maximus 0]

What do you mean you havent seen such weapons in public?

[Acecombat 0]

Weapons like those fancy HK's MP5's and those butt folded AK's , our country is very peaceful when it comes to that we dont often get a chance to see such arsenal in the polices hand especially the biggest thing they usually have is a Pistol

Because of the low crime rate here

And some govt'mental policy

[GoOB 0]

Still no news at all about this, quite odd.... Let's hope this was an accident.

@Hit_Sqd_Maximus

Police regularly doesn't carry heavy weaponry, the only time I have seen Swedish police carrying something heavier than their sidearms in public was at Arlanda three days after the 9/11 attacks. Not counting television of course ;)

EDIT: Ace beat me to it

[Apollo 0]

Well ,if there wasn't any international press ,the report might get surpressed by the Saudi monarchy.They are not fond of Saudi arabia having the immage of a terrorist filled state in the west ,it worsens their position in the middle east especially in relation's with the U.S.A. .

[Acecombat 0]

Yes true but the govt here also looks for oppurtunity's to show the world that it isnt sponsoring this bull and these incidents sort a help them improve their imag from that perspective. and that they are doing 'lot's to stop these maniacs...

I dont know why theres no news though ... i'll snoop around myself tonight if i get some news i'll post it here

[turms 0]

Be carefull and watch the donkeys will you :P

[Apollo 0]

Quote[/b] ]Yes true but the govt here also looks for oppurtunity's to show the world that it isnt sponsoring this bull and these incidents sort a help them improve their imag from that perspective. and that they are doing 'lot's to stop these maniacs...

I do not nessecarily disagree ,however i guess that we can conclude that IF the person/s responsibe for this attack are actual saudi's then there might be a point for surpressing it ,especially if the attack was planned on foreigner's.However ,one would think that if thesde foreigner's had direct contact with their respective goverment's ,these goverment's would know that by now and would have reported that themself.If however ,this attack was on foreigner's withought direct goverment contact's ,and the western press doesn't know about it ,and the men reponsible were Saudi then i can see a point of repressing the report ,although however this scenario aint that likely.

Well ,let's just see how long it takes for this report to come trough ,if it doesn't in any way ,then we can conclude that it may be repressed.

[bn880 5]

Is it possible this got supressed not to frighten everyone around the world as to the number of successfull attacks AQ has pulled off in a short timeframe? If that was an attack then I think that would be the reason, to make AQ look less capable than it was.

On the other hand it may have been something other than an attack, like gas or tanker explosion.

[SpecOp9 0]

I just saw an Apache fly over my house...

I know thats nothing big, but perhaps something fishy is going on My friend saw it too (he lives down the street from me)

[theavonlady 2]

I just saw an Apache fly over my house...  

I know thats nothing big, but perhaps something fishy is going on     My friend saw it too (he lives down the street from me)

Some days that's all I see going overhead here.

Where do you live?

[Baron von Beer 0]

IS there an Army/National Guard base anywhere nearby? If so, it's likely nothing (Appache flying over) Probably training, etc. In St. Louis, see choppers (Blackhawks, Chinooks, Appaches) fairly often. When I lived in Louisville KY, (South of) I saw them literally all the time. When farther south of the city, saw 160th SOAR birds from time to time on training flights. (Ft. Campbell vicinity, usually flew over rural areas, well, rural even for that area)

[Acecombat 0]

Found out what happened:

Quote[/b] ]12 Nurses Admitted to Hospital After Fire in Residential Compound

Raid Qusti, Arab News Staff

RIYADH, 23 November 2003 — A fire broke out yesterday morning in a compound housing nurses from the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital in Al-Sulaimaniya district here putting security forces on full alert. The fire gutted several rooms but was successfully extinguished by the Civil Defense Department.

At least 20 police cars blocked the entrance of Debar Street all the way up to the entrance of the compound near the intersection with Thalatheen Street. In less than 15 minutes, large trucks full of soldiers were deployed to the scene. Special forces officers were putting magazines into their machine guns just before running to the entrance in what appeared to be a terrorist attack.

As clouds of black smoke rose from the scene, police officers near the entrance were holding shotguns and were on full alert. “Check the drivers,†an officer told his men as the water tankers from the Civil Defense arrived. Saudi Red Crescent ambulances were also searched and their drivers’ identification checked before they were allowed on the premises. Journalists were banned from taking photos and were told to leave. Only the Saudi Arabian Television crew was allowed in.

Two Filipina nurses who arrived at the gate were in shock as they saw the smoke rising from the buildings. They told Arab News their friends were still inside. One soldier had to restrain them from going back.

The head of the Civil Defense Department in Riyadh later told the Saudi Press Agency that the fire started at 12:02 a.m. Seven South African nurses as well as five Filipino nurses were admitted to the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and minor injuries. Sources also told Arab News that two Saudis, including a security guard, also sustained injuries. The statement ruled out arson and said the fire was accidental.

That explains why the army was there ... oh and this hospital is adjacent to that other compound so its afairly close call for them too. Thank GOD no AQ but wonder why they didnt let other reporters in

[Baron von Beer 0]

Perhaps fear that they would begin to speculate that it was a terrorist act? (Arson instead of a bomb for a change) That would seem the most likely reason. Also perhaps fear that terrorist types would use the confusion TO detonate a bomb?