US and Saudi officials spread debris on plastic sheets as they continued to gather evidence for June 25 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. AFP
US and Saudi officials spread debris on plastic sheets as they continued to gather evidence for June 25 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. AFP

1996 - The bombing of Khobar Towers

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Updated 19 April 2025
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1996 - The bombing of Khobar Towers

1996 - The bombing of Khobar Towers
  • The second major terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia was a clear sign of Iran’s influence

RIYADH: June 25, 1996, was the day when trust was lost and an edifice was brought down. It was the day that rendered a tear in an evolving friendship. It was the day when a residential tower in Alkhobar, hosting soldiers from the international coalition that was enforcing a no fly-zone in southern Iraq after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, was bombed. It was the day many things changed. 

News of the bombing — which killed 19 Americans and a Saudi citizen, and injured 498 people of various nationalities — came as a shock to many. It was only the second major terrorist attack in the Kingdom, after the siege of Makkah in 1979. Those affected directly by the bombing were left scarred for life, but those who felt its wider reverberations elsewhere went through a range of emotions that, for some, forever changed their worldview. 

I still have clear memories of the impactful day, of how I lived through the horror from afar. The news itself scared me because of the magnitude of the attack and because it had targeted Americans while I was studying in the US. My first thought was whether there would be an adverse reaction, because the aftermath of the Oklahoma bombing on April 19, 1995, was still fresh in my mind. 

I was in Boston, studying English, when the Oklahoma bombing took place. At that time, the first piece of news about the hunt for the bomber was the arrest of a Jordanian-American man who flew from Oklahoma on the day of the attack. 

How we wrote it




Arab News’ front page highlighted global outrage over Khobar Towers bombing and Saudi efforts to restore security.

I still remember the suspicious looks from people on the subway on my way to school. I was not targeted physically or verbally but the looks were painful and a sense of distrust was evident. 

The subsequent arrests of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols came as a relief to many of us Middle Eastern students abroad. Later, I experienced similar feelings following the Alkhobar Towers bombing, and felt even worse after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. 

The Alkhobar bombing also left me with a surreal feeling that this could not happening. Meanwhile, most of us had to face questions from people who could not understand why it did. And there was no escape from the blame. Americans had been targeted, and while the country’s citizens had been victims of previous terror attacks, the difference this time was the location: It happened in Saudi Arabia. 

I was living in the city of Detroit at the time, and of course we did not have Twitter or other social media in those days to provide quick updates on the attack. The internet was still something relatively new. Arabic TV channels were not available in the US at that time. The only source of information was what we read in American newspapers and saw on US TV channels. Other updates on the attack came from friends who had talked to their families back home. 

During this period of uncertainty, I remember being asked a lot questions by my university friends, many of whom could not point to Iran or Saudi Arabia on the map. Most of the time my answers fell short. One comment that sticks in my mind was from my university history teacher, who remarked with a smile: “When we defend you, you kill us.”  

Key Dates

  • 1

    A huge truck bomb detonates outside a building housing US personnel in Alkhobar, killing 19 of them and a Saudi civilian.

    Timeline Image June 25, 1996

  • 2

    13 Saudis and a Lebanese man indicted on terrorism charges by federal grand jury in Virginia.

    Timeline Image June 21, 2001

  • 3

    Saudi authorities say they have arrested 11 of the 13 Saudi suspects, who will be tried in the Kingdom.

    Timeline Image July 2, 2001

  • 4

    Federal judge rules Iran is responsible for the bombing and orders its government to pay $254m compensation to families of Americans who died.

    Timeline Image Dec. 23, 2006

  • 5

    Ahmed Al-Mughassil, accused of being behind the bombing, arrested in Beirut and handed over to Saudi authorities.

    Timeline Image Aug. 26, 2015

  • 6

    Another US court orders Iran to pay a further $104.7m compensation to 15 people injured in the bombing.

That period we were living in, after the Gulf War in 1991, was witnessing a lot of change. The presence of US forces in Saudi Arabia was an unwelcome development to a segment of society that viewed their presence in the land of the Two Holy Mosques as an unannounced invasion. This narrative was widely distributed through the many cassette tapes featuring the words of famous clerics, who never stopped calling for the withdrawal of American forces and the closure of their military bases. 

My first impression, like that of many of my American friends, was that the Alkhobar attack was carried out by terrorists influenced by hate speech. But it was later revealed that Iran was indirectly behind it. Investigations slowly revealed a conspiracy to destabilize Saudi Arabia. 

This was not surprising to me, knowing that the Iranian regime has been on a never-ending mission to destabilize Saudi Arabia since Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini came to power in 1979. 

The main mission of the regime in Tehran was to export its ideology through proxy forces in neighboring countries. What scared me most at that time was that it had managed to do this through its arm in Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, which claimed responsibility for the attack.  




Family members of the 19 US Airforce Airmen killed in the bombing weep during 5th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony held in Virginia. AFP

Iran is no stranger to sabotage and bad behavior in the region. It consistently attempts to brainwash young people in other countries into adopting its ideologies and turning against their own governments. We have seen how Tehran has managed to find a foothold in countries as far afield as the heart of Africa and South Asia. 

The demonstration by Iranian pilgrims in Makkah in 1987 comes to mind. I watched in horror on TV how they turned the Hajj religious event into chaos, attacking, killing and injuring many innocent pilgrims. I saw how they burned cars and beat to death police officers on the streets. Similar events happened in Madinah, where they also instigated riots and attacked pilgrims.  

A government with an ideology that does not care about sacred places and innocent lives for sure will not feel any sympathy when it directs its minions in the region to carry out such attacks. Iran will not remain calm and will not deviate from its main goal of destabilizing the region. 

It is still reaping what it sowed in Alkhobar and other areas. What has Iran gained since 1979 except chaos, war and economic sanctions? 

  • Mahmoud Ahmad is a former Arab News manager. He was a bachelor of marketing student at the University of Detroit Mercy when the Khobar Towers were bombed. 


Egypt approves largest economic support package for SMEs worth $100.8m

Egypt approves largest economic support package for SMEs worth $100.8m
Updated 3 min 37 sec ago
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Egypt approves largest economic support package for SMEs worth $100.8m

Egypt approves largest economic support package for SMEs worth $100.8m

RIYADH: Entrepreneurs in Egypt’s priority sectors will soon gain access to affordable financing, as the 2025/2026 state budget earmarks 5 billion Egyptian pounds ($100.8 million) to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

This partnership between the North African country’s Ministry of Finance and the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, which accounts for the largest economic support in the new budget, represents a significant step in bolstering the private sector and productive industries, according to a statement.

This move supports financial policies that boost private sector activity and promote entrepreneurship, aiming for financial sustainability while enhancing MSMEDA’s contribution to business growth nationwide.

It also aligns with recent data showing that startups across the Middle East and North Africa raised $289 million through 44 deals in May, a 25 percent increase from April and a 2 percent rise year-on-year. Egypt led regional fundraising with $125 million, driven by Nawy’s $75 million round alongside seven other deals totaling $50 million.

The newly released ministry statement said the money “will contribute to providing easy financing for young entrepreneurs, targeting priority sectors more closely.”

It added: “This comes as part of a new phase of strong and effective cooperation with the agency, aiming to achieve financial sustainability for the agency to drive economic growth.”

The statement further revealed that Egypt’s Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk noted that an initial agreement with MSMEDA has been reached to fund initiatives that support tax relief beneficiaries, promote entrepreneurship, and boost local manufacturing, as well as empower low-income households and advance export-focused projects.

Kouchouk added that this fiscal year, the initial group of businesses enrolling in the simplified and unified tax system would receive access to preferential, low-cost financing.

Basel Rahmi, CEO of MSMEDA, commended the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to back emerging businesses and boost private-sector expansion.

Rahmi praised the minister’s proactive vision, noting it would open doors for empowering young entrepreneurs economically.

In June, a statement issued by the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship indicated that Egypt’s startup ecosystem saw notable progress in securing venture capital and debt financing in the first five months of the year, with tracked deals totaling $228 million since January.

The statement further revealed at the time that 16 deals were completed between January and May, with 11 of them publicly disclosing investments amounting to $156 million. These investments represented a 130 percent rise compared to the volume during the same period last year.


German doctor goes on trial for 15 murders

German doctor goes on trial for 15 murders
Updated 4 min 53 sec ago
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German doctor goes on trial for 15 murders

German doctor goes on trial for 15 murders
  • Palliative care specialist alleged to have killed 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024 while working in Berlin
  • The case recalls that of notorious German nurse Niels Hoegel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 patients

BERLIN: A German doctor went on trial Monday accused of killing 15 patients with lethal injections and acting as “master of life and death” over those in his care.

The 40-year-old palliative care specialist, named by German media as Johannes M., is alleged to have killed 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024 while working in Berlin.

The doctor is accused of injecting the victims, aged between 25 and 94, with deadly cocktails of sedatives and in some cases setting fire to their homes in a bid to cover up his crimes.

The accused had “visited his patients under the pretext of providing medical care,” prosecutor Philipp Meyhoefer said at the opening of the trial at the state court in Berlin.

Johannes M. had organized “home visits, already with the intention of killing” and exploited his patients’ trust in him as a doctor, Meyhoefer said.

“He acted with disregard for life... and behaved as the master of life and death.”

A co-worker first raised the alarm over Johannes M. last July after becoming suspicious that so many of his patients had died in fires, according to Die Zeit newspaper.

He was arrested in August, with prosecutors initially linking him to four deaths.

But subsequent investigations uncovered a host of other suspicious cases, and in April prosecutors charged Johannes M. with 15 counts of murder.

A further 96 cases were still being investigated, a prosecution spokesman said, including the death of Johannes M.’s mother-in-law.

She had been suffering from cancer and mysteriously died the same weekend that Johannes M. and his wife went to visit her in Poland in early 2024, according to media reports.

The suspect reportedly trained as a radiologist and a general practitioner before going on to specialize in palliative care.

According to Die Zeit, he submitted a doctoral thesis in 2013 looking into the motives behind a series of killings in Frankfurt, which opened with the words “Why do people kill?”

In the charges brought against Johannes M., prosecutors said the doctor had “administered an anesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients... without their knowledge or consent.”

The relaxant “paralyzed the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes.”

In five cases, Johannes M. allegedly set fire to the victims’ apartments after administering the injections.

On one occasion, he is accused of murdering two patients on the same day.

On the morning of July 8, 2024, he allegedly killed a 75-year-old man at his home in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg.

“A few hours later” he is said to have struck again, killing a 76-year-old woman in the neighboring Neukoelln district.

Prosecutors say he started a fire in the woman’s apartment, but it went out.

“When he realized this, he allegedly informed a relative of the woman and claimed that he was standing in front of her flat and that nobody was answering the doorbell,” prosecutors said.

In another case, Johannes M. “falsely claimed to have already begun resuscitation efforts” on a 56-year-old victim, who was initially kept alive by rescuers but died three days later in hospital.

Prosecutors said he had “no motive beyond killing” and are seeking a life sentence.

The case recalls that of notorious German nurse Niels Hoegel, who was handed a life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 patients.

Hoegel, believed to be modern Germany’s most prolific serial killer, murdered hospital patients with lethal injections between 2000 and 2005, before he was eventually caught in the act.

More recently, a 27-year-old nurse was given a life sentence in 2023 for murdering two patients by deliberately administering unprescribed drugs.

In March, another nurse went on trial in Aachen accused of injecting 26 patients with large doses of sedatives or painkillers, resulting in nine deaths.

Last week, German police revealed they are investigating another doctor suspected of killing several mainly elderly patients.

Investigators are “reviewing” deaths linked to the doctor from the town of Pinneberg in northern Germany, just outside Hamburg, police and prosecutors said.


Six Syrian security personnel killed after deploying to quell sectarian clashes, source says

Six Syrian security personnel killed after deploying to quell sectarian clashes, source says
Updated 9 min 36 sec ago
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Six Syrian security personnel killed after deploying to quell sectarian clashes, source says

Six Syrian security personnel killed after deploying to quell sectarian clashes, source says
DAMASCUS: Six members of Syria’s security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, a security source told Reuters, after they deployed to halt deadly sectarian clashes that local media reported had resumed on Monday.
Sunday’s fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself, following months of tensions in the broader province.
The fighting left 30 people dead and prompted Syria’s security forces to deploy units to the city to restore calm and guarantee safe passage for civilians looking to leave, the defense ministry said in a statement.
But intense clashes broke out again on Monday, local news outlet Sweida24 reported. At least six Syrian troops were subsequently killed, a defense ministry source told Reuters.
It marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have surged since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
Sunni Muslim Arab rebel groups which fought Assad during the war agreed in December to dissolve into the defense ministry but efforts to integrate armed factions from minority groups — including Druze and Kurds — have largely stalled.
In southern Syria, efforts have been further complicated by Israel’s stated policy that it would not allow Syria’s new army to deploy south of Damascus and that Sweida and neighboring provinces should make up a demilitarized zone.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a written statement carried on state media that the “absence of state institutions, especially military and security institutions, is a major cause of the ongoing tensions in Sweida and its countryside.”
Sunday’s violence erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida, witnesses said.

Muhammad Waseem leads UAE in Pearl of Africa T20I Series in Uganda

Muhammad Waseem leads UAE in Pearl of Africa T20I Series in Uganda
Updated 12 min 30 sec ago
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Muhammad Waseem leads UAE in Pearl of Africa T20I Series in Uganda

Muhammad Waseem leads UAE in Pearl of Africa T20I Series in Uganda
  • UAE to play Kenya in their opening match on Friday

DUBAI: Opening batter Muhammad Waseem is to lead the 14-member UAE squad in the Pearl of Africa T20I Series at the Entebbe Cricket Oval in Uganda.

The UAE will be playing the hosts Uganda, along with Kenya, and Nigeria, in the series, with six matches in the league stage, two against each opponent.

The team to finish at the top of the table at the end of the league stage will be declared the tournament’s winner, with the UAE playing Kenya in their opening match on Friday.

The UAE’s squad: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Akif Raja, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Haider Ali, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Muhammad Zuhaib, Rahul Chopra, Rohid Khan, and Saghir Khan.

The UAE’s matches in the Pearl of Africa T20I Series:

July 18: UAE v Kenya (Entebbe Cricket Oval).

July 19: Uganda v UAE (Entebbe Cricket Oval).

July 21: Nigeria v UAE (Entebbe Cricket Oval).

July 23: Kenya v UAE (Entebbe Cricket Oval).

July 26: UAE v Nigeria (Entebbe Cricket Oval).

July 27: UAE v Uganda (Entebbe Cricket Oval).


Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations
Updated 13 min 5 sec ago
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Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations
  • Wizz said geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand
  • Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region

LONDON: Low-cost carrier Wizz Air said on Monday it was quitting its Abu Dhabi operation after six years to focus on its main European market, citing geopolitical instability and limited market access.

Wizz, which originally focused on central and eastern Europe but expanded into Britain, Italy and Austria, said in future it would concentrate on its much more profitable European business.

Wizz said the geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand, while the impact of the hot environment in the Middle East had hurt engine efficiency, making it hard to operate its low-cost model.

Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region as it had hoped, the airline said.

“They just couldn’t make money out of the Middle East,” Davy analyst Stephen Furlong said.

Wizz said it will stop local flights from Sept. 1, 2025 and would be contacting customers regarding refunds.

“Supply chain constraints, geopolitical instability, and limited market access have made it increasingly difficult to sustain our original ambitions,” Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said in a statement.

“While this was a difficult decision, it is the right one given the circumstances,” he added.

Wizz Air is in talks with Airbus about scaling back its order for 47 A321XLR, a longer range aircraft, and converting some of them to regular A321 jet.

“We have 47 XLRs on order. We are going to scale that back,” Varadi said.

“We have conversion rights for the majority of that of that aircraft order. So we are talking to the manufacturer.”