Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. airmen

Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. airmen

On This Day - June 25, 1996 – Nineteen Americans were killed at a US base near Dhahran and another 105 suffered serious injuries from a truck bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds at the Khobar Towers apartment complex adjacent to King Abdul Aziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia. About 5,000 US troops served in Saudi Arabia, along with French and British whose aircraft were flying 100 missions per day over southern Iraq from Saudi Arabia to enforce the no-fly zone. Later reports said that Osama bin Laden bankrolled the bombing of the US base and that Hezbollha carried out the attack, with support from Iran. In 2000 it was reported that the Bin Laden family firm was awarded the contract to rebuild the Khobar Towers. In all, 19 U.S. Air Force personnel were killed. Never forget... Capt. Christopher Adams Capt. Leland Haun MSgt Michael G. Heiser MSgt Kendall K. Kitson TSgt Daniel B. Cafourek TSgt Patrick P. Fennig TSgt Thanh V. Nguyen SSgt Ronald King SSgt Kevin Johnson Sgt Millard D. Campbell SrA Earl R. Cartrette, Jr. SrA Jeremy A. Taylor A1C Christopher Lester A1C Brent E. Marthaler A1C Brian W. McVeigh A1C Peter W. Morgera A1C Joseph E. Rimkus A1C Justin Wood A1C Joshua E. Woody NEVER FORGET! On June 25, 1996, a tanker truck loaded with 25,000 pounds of explosives rips through the U.S. Air Force military housing complex Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. airmen and wounding nearly 500 others. The terrorist attack that blew off much of the eight-story Building 131, leaving a crater 50 feet wide and 16 feet deep, was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces since the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut that left 241 dead. The bombers, later identified as members of the pro-Iran Islamic militant group Hezbollah, parked the truck near the towers that were home to 2,000 American military personnel who were assigned to the King Abdul Aziz Air Base to patrol southern Iraqi no-fly zones. They escaped before setting off the explosion. Investigators found the attack had been planned for more than three years by members of the Saudi Hezbollah, with backing from Iran, as a way to force U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Hezbollah and Iran were found guilty by a U.S. federal court in 2006, and Iran was ordered to pay $254.5 million to survivors. That money has not been collected. In 2001, 13 Saudis and one Lebanese man were indicted in the attack by the U.S., with Attorney General John Ashcroft stating “... the Iranian government inspired, supported and supervised members of Saudi Hezbollah.” Charges included conspiracy to kill Americans and U.S. employees, to use weapons of mass destruction and to destroy U.S. property, plus murder and bombing. Iran denied involvement in the attack, and Saudi Arabia said they would not extradite those charged who were in their custody. None of the indicted have been brought to court. Nearly 20 years later, Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil, a key Hezbollah operative implicated in the attack, was captured and arrested in Beirut in 2015 and moved to Saudi Arabia for interrogation. In 2018, Iran was ordered to pay victims $104.7 million by a U.S. federal judge.

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