Hostages taken in khobar

[Billabong81 0]

I just turned on CNN, and saw a CH-46 flying over a complex with soldiers jumping out the back.  There is a hostage situation over in Saudi Arabia, but I am sure CNN can explain better than I can .

Quote[/b] ]Helicopters dropped Saudi security forces onto the roof of a building Sunday in a Khobar residential complex where gunmen have been holding as many as 50 hostages since the day before.

The gunmen barricaded themselves in the residential complex Saturday morning after they attacked two oil industry compounds and killed at least 11 people.

Western diplomatic sources said one American and one British citizen were among the dead in the violence in the port city, an oil industry center about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital, Riyadh.

Full story here.

EDIT: Changed chinook to CH-46 since its bothering so many people

[billybob2002 0]

Fox News reported earlier in the day that the dead brit was dragged for a mile and was dropped in the a river (others say the american was...now it is unknown). Also, the attackers wore military uniforms and were asking people for thier ids because it had their religious belief on it.

Sick stuff...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121282,00.html

Quote[/b] ]

British and Filipino citizens were reportedly also among those killed in the shooting rampage, as well as Saudi guards and a 10-year-old Egyptian boy whose father works for an oil company. The kingdom's Crown Prince Abdullah (search) said about 10 Saudis and foreigners were killed.

Quote[/b] ]

One of them, Orora Naoufal, said she cowered in her apartment with her four-year-old son for five hours after a brief encounter with two of the gunmen, whom she described as clean-shaven and wearing military uniforms.

She told AP by telephone that the gunmen asked her where the "infidels" and foreigners were, and whether she was Muslim or Christian,

Quote[/b] ]

The Arab News newspaper, quoting witnesses, said the attackers dragged the body of an unidentified victim behind their car after the initial attack. Several Saudi newspapers also reported Sunday that the attackers threw at least one body from the building where they were holed up and had mutilated some of the bodies of those they killed.

[Pathy 0]

I've heard commandos have now gone in and killed all the hostage takers....and probably some hostages too

[MLF 0]

reports say that 9 hostages where killed by the terrorists.

[bn880 5]

I've heard commandos have now gone in and killed all the hostage takers....and probably some hostages too

lol

Interesting conclusion.

"While we're at it guys, take a few of these people out..."

[ran 0]

reports say that 9 hostages where killed by the terrorists.

read :

9 hostages died in the cross fire between terrorists and police forces .... nah ... we'll see when the official reports will get released.

... but i'm doubtfull about the saudi HRT efficiency, it wouldn't astonish me if the nine hostages died due to the crossfire and other mistakes

[bn880 5]

Well Ran, if you watched the Chinook insertion you would be certain they are inefficient... I haven't seen such a slow insertion (and quite so loud) in a long time... maybe what was happening underneath was more organized.

[MLF 0]

Well Ran, if you watched the Chinook insertion you would be certain they are inefficient... I haven't seen such a slow insertion (and quite so loud) in a long time...     maybe what was happening underneath was more organized.

Yes because you can get 40 commandos out of a helo real fast , It was actual a CH46 CH46, CH47 "Chinook"

Quote[/b] ]About 40 commandos jumped from helicopters onto the roof of the building in the eastern city of Khobar.

Two militants were killed and others arrested, security sources said, but two are reported to have escaped.

An adviser to the Saudi ambassador in Britain has told the BBC that commandos went in after the militants started killing hostages.

Jamal Kashokji told the BBC's Newshour programme that the bodies of nine hostages were found on the premises when forces went in.

One man, who said he was among 25 hostages freed in the dawn raid, told AFP news agency the militants had slit the throats of nine captives.

"The nine had their throats cut by the kidnappers when they tried to escape at night by the stairs," said Nijar Hijazin, a Jordanian computer engineer.

A statement purported to be from an al-Qaeda-linked group and posted on an Islamic website, said its militants had "slaughtered" an Italian and a Swedish hostage.

The claim could not be verified but was consistent with what Mr Hijazin told AFP. He said Asians were also among the dead.

An Italian cook has been confirmed dead, but it is not clear whether he was one of the hostages or whether he was shot on Saturday.

Saudi security officials flashed victory signs as scores of residents and hostages streamed out of the Oasis housing compound at the end of the rescue operation.

Some of the freed hostages were taken to hospital. Others were being treated at the compound.

"Some hostages had fainted, some were dehydrated and some had suffered panic attacks," the compound manager told Reuters.

'Evil things'

The crisis began on Saturday, when the gunmen went on a shooting spree in Khobar.

They first attacked company offices, killing a number of Westerners - including an American and a Briton.

The body of one Westerner was then tied to a car and dragged through the streets.

The number of victims in Saturday's attacks is unclear - at least 10 people are known to have been killed but some reports put the death toll at 16.

The militants then moved to the Oasis compound, where they took a number of people hostage.

They apparently tried to separate the Muslims from the non-Muslims, releasing five Lebanese nationals.

The gunmen were believed to be holding the hostages on the top floor of the six-storey building. Saudi forces entered the building from the roof after reports of booby traps on the levels below.

The Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, told the BBC that the authorities had to take action when militants began doing "evil things" to the hostages, including holding a gun to a child's head.

Prince Bandar told US television that Saudi forces had rescued seven American hostages overnight, two of whom were wounded.

An earlier statement purporting to come from an al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The message from the al-Quds Brigade, which said Americans would not be allowed to steal Saudi Arabia's riches, was carried on an Islamic website.

Foreigners targeted

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on the kingdom's oil industry - the world's largest.

BBC Middle East correspondent Paul Wood says that with oil at more than $40 a barrel, the attack is bad news for the world's economy.

He adds that by terrifying foreign workers in the oil industry, the militants are also undermining the ruling Saudi royal family - one of their stated aims.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, said militants would not be allowed to undermine the country's economy.

The US embassy has reiterated its call to US citizens to leave Saudi Arabia, while Britain repeated a warning to its citizens to avoid all but essential travel to the country.

Khobar, 400km (250 miles) north-east of Riyadh, is one of the centres of the Saudi oil industry, in which foreigners play a key role.

In early May, five foreigners were killed in an attack on a petrochemical site in the city of Yanbu.

The Saudi government launched a high-profile assault on militants following a triple suicide bombing in Riyadh last May, which killed 35 people including nine bombers.

[bn880 5]

Well Ran, if you watched the Chinook insertion you would be certain they are inefficient... I haven't seen such a slow insertion (and quite so loud) in a long time... maybe what was happening underneath was more organized.

Yes because you can get 40 commandos out of a helo real fast , It was actual a CH46 CH46, CH47 "Chinook"

You mean because you could instead get them out extremely slow?

[Pathy 0]

I've heard commandos have now gone in and killed all the hostage takers....and probably some hostages too

lol

Interesting conclusion.  

"While we're at it guys, take a few of these people out..."  

Well i didnt mean it was intentional. However, i did come to a similar conclusion about the competancy of the Saudi Commando's as you did. Its a good job i havent seen Acecombat around here for awhile, he'd probably rip me a new one for that (where is the little rascal anyway?), but....yeh your slow insertion point illustrates it. Reminds me of the infiltration attempts at Munich Stadium for competancy...

But hey, we may be wrong about that......hostage situations are probably the most challanging situation you could possibly face, anyway.....

[bn880 5]

Yes well I didn't see the insertion form the very beginning, but they were slow as shit getting that chinook to hover properly and for the guys to jump out without breaking their legs... IMo the pilot had extreme problems... or they should have had ropes.. FFS... that was bad at least when I watched it.

[MLF 0]

Yes well I didn't see the insertion form the very beginning, but they were slow as shit getting that chinook to hover properly and for the guys to jump out without breaking their legs... IMo the pilot had extreme problems... or they should have had ropes..  FFS... that was bad at least when I watched it.

they where jumping out 2 at a time from what i saw, and plz its really iggling me its a sea knight or ch46 not a chinook. it was not slow it just took time to get all of them out. im not sure but i dont think ropes would have been a good option at that hieght onto the building + the pilot was very skilled to keep it at that level for that amount of time.

[Pathy 0]

Well whatever we think, they are probably all more skilled than the lot of us

[theavonlady 2]

Yes because you can get 40 commandos out of a helo real fast

From the raw video footage I saw, there were 3 landings on the roof. I don't know if it was the same Chinook or different ones landing each time. Seemed like different ones.

[MLF 0]

link removed to much blood. but yea if you go to reuters and go to Reuters TV section there is a clip of the insertion.

Check out the Top left link and watch them insert, hardly slow really, also it was more then 1 helo my bad, dunno why i would think they would insert 40 commandos from a sea Knight .

ps plz it aint a chinook

[python3 0]

yeah Avon, they said it was three different choppers that dropped commando's. Apparently nine of the hostages had their throats slit by the terrorits before the commando's stormed the building, thats according to one hostage, in MLF's article.

[Pathy 0]

Lets keep calling it a chinook and see if MLF's head explodes  

[theavonlady 2]

Lets keep calling it a chinook

MLF is right. It's a CH46, not a CH47.

Quote[/b] ]and see if MLF's head explodes

Is it primed?

[Pathy 0]

I shoved a stick of C4 with a pencil-timer in his ear last night while he was sleeping.....should be any second now.......

[bn880 5]

link removed to much blood. but yea if you go to reuters and go to Reuters TV section there is a clip of the insertion.

Check out the Top left link and watch them insert, hardly slow really, also it was more then 1 helo my bad, dunno why i would think they would insert 40 commandos from a sea Knight .

ps plz it aint a chinook

Very slow. You don't see the insertion, it's cut up until they jump.

How fast he flew to the site is not the problem, it's what he did over the building that took forever.

[ralphwiggum 6]

i'd say that's not the fastest, but certainly not slow. first insertion seemed kinda slow, but 2nd and 3rd seems to be ok.

[MLF 0]

link removed to much blood. but yea if you go to reuters and go to Reuters TV section there is a clip of the insertion.

Check out the Top left link and watch them insert, hardly slow really, also it was more then 1 helo my bad, dunno why i would think they would insert 40 commandos from a sea Knight .

ps plz it aint a chinook

Very slow.  You don't see the insertion, it's cut up until they jump.

How fast he flew to the site is not the problem, it's what he did over the building that took forever.

they streamed out, im guessing they where cautious for the 1st insertion because the entire 1st floor was booby trapped, it was not fast ropin speed but it was certainly streaming out in an orderly flow for the 2nd and 3rd insertions. not at a pace which you could question there competence which you did. did you watch the raw footage? it shows them inserting on to the roof.

[bn880 5]

Yes well I didn't see the insertion form the very beginning, but they were slow as shit getting that chinook to hover properly and for the guys to jump out without breaking their legs... IMo the pilot had extreme problems... or they should have had ropes.. FFS... that was bad at least when I watched it.

they where jumping out 2 at a time from what i saw, and plz its really iggling me its a sea knight or ch46 not a chinook. it was not slow it just took time to get all of them out. im not sure but i dont think ropes would have been a good option at that hieght onto the building + the pilot was very skilled to keep it at that level for that amount of time.

The Chinook?

Why would ropes not be a good option? Ropes are a good option when you can't land a beast like that... from all the footage I saw I would say this kind of insertion was very slow for a hostage rescue operation. I don't give a hit if the team members are more or less skilled, that insertion was slow.

Nice Chinook isn't it.

[MLF 0]

har, har, feeling a little childish today?

Ropes not a good option because maybe the roof was booby trapped? going in close to inspect and look for traps or IED's.

because again the entire 1st floor was booby trapped or suspected to be, so its fairly logical that the roof also might be booby trapped.

[bn880 5]

Booby trap or not doesn't change a thing about roping down when the pilot doesn't have the skill to get low quickly. You are either checking for traps or you are jumping/roping down. They were going in trap or no trap.