1960s The most serious violence to take place was a series of bomb blasts in Riyadh in late 1966 and early 1967. The bombings, which caused no known casualties, were claimed by the North Yemen-based Nasserite organisation Union of the People of the Arabian Peninsula [ittihad sha'b al-jazira al-'arabiyya] (UPAP). After the attacks, Saudi authorities arrested several hundred Yemenis, executed 17 of them and expelled the rest.
1979 20 November – 4 December (See Grand Mosque Seizure) – number of militants took over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to protest the House of Saud's policies of Westernization. The militants were well organized and armed and were initially able to repel attempts by the Saudi National Guard to storm the complex. The Saudis eventually brought in French and Pakistani commandos to help their forces retake the Mosque. Non-Muslim commandos underwent nominal conversion to Islam before being allowed into the Mosque. Eventually the Mosque was retaken and the 63 or 67 surviving male militants were executed. The number of people killed in the siege and the total number of militants involved are disputed. Official sources put the death toll at 255, but others suggest that it was higher. Ruhollah Khomeini addressed on Radio regarding the seizure of the Mosque on 21 November.
1988 30 September – four Shi'ite men are beheaded for blowing up fuel storage tanks at the Saudi Petrochemical Company (SADAF) facility in Jubail. They had entered the plant by cutting a hole in the perimeter fence. One tank happened to be empty, but another was full and burned for several days. Eventually the fire was extinguished when a firefighting team literally plugged the hole in the tank.
SADAF Engineer William (Bill) Parry (07.11.1941 - 18.12.2022) was the engineer responsible for the idea and design of the ‘plug’ that was used to stop the fire. He was also one of the volunteer firefighters who walked in to the fire to place it in position.
1995 1 November – a car bomb killed five US citizens and two Indians at the offices of the Saudi National Guard in Riyadh.
1996 25 June - (See Khobar Towers bombing) – the Khobar Towers apartment complex in Khobar, near Dhahran, is hit by a large truck bomb. Nineteen US airmen are killed and 372 wounded by the blast. William Perry, who was the United States Secretary of Defense at the time that this bombing happened, said in an interview in June 2007 that "he now believes al-Qaida rather than Iran was behind a 1996 truck bombing at an American military base."
2001 In late 2001, a Sudanese man with links to Al-Qaeda fired an SA-7 at an American F-15 Eagle fighter taking off from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The missile missed the target and was not detected by the pilot or anyone at the base. Saudi police found the empty launcher in the desert in May 2002, and a suspect was arrested in Sudan a month later. He led police to a cache in the desert where a second missile was buried.
2002 20 June - A British national was killed when a bomb placed under his car detonated in Al Nakheel.
29 September - A German national was killed by a car bomb in central Riyadh.
2003 20 February - An American employee of BAE Systems was shot to death in his car in Riyadh.
12 May - (See Riyadh compound bombings) at least 35 are killed and over 200 wounded during simultaneous suicide attacks on 3 Western compounds in Riyadh. These included the Al Hambra compound which housed the British International School and the Vinnell Compound and one other. The number of fatalities was reported to be 35 however witnesses reported that the number was much higher. Western sources report that National Guard collusion was involved and there are rumors of large numbers of Western expats leaving the country.
31 May - Two police officers and a militant are killed.
14 June - Security forces raided a building in the Khalidiya neighborhood of Makkah. Two Saudi police officers and five suspects were killed in a shootout. Twelve suspects were arrested including two from Chad and one Egyptian.
28 July - Six militants – four Saudis and two Chadians – and two police officers were killed in a police raid on a farm outside of Al-Qasim. The four Saudis were identified as Ahmad Al-Dakheel, Kareem Olayyan Al-Ramthan Al-Harbi, Saud Aamir Suleiman Al-Qurashi, and Muhammad Ghazi Saleem Al-Harbi. The Chadians were Isa Kamal Yousuf Khater and Isa Saleh Ali Ahmed. Another Saudi wanted person, identified as Ibrahim ibn Abdullah Khalaf Al-Harbi, was arrested after he being injured.
23 September - Three militants and a police officer are killed in a gunfight at a Riyadh hospital.
20 October - Police raid hideout in Riyadh and capture a large supply of weapons.
3 November - Police surround militant hideout in Riyadh and kill two.
6 November - Two militants surrounded by the police in Riyadh blow themselves up.
8 November - A truck bomb explodes at an Arab housing compound in Riyadh, killing 17 and injuring 120.
8 December - An unnamed militant is killed at a Riyadh gas station.
2004 19 January - Shootout in Al-Nassim District (Riyadh).
29 January - One unnamed gunman captured and five police officers killed in a shootout in the Al-Nassim District of Riyadh.
In April United States Embassy issues a travel advisory for the Kingdom and urges all US citizens to leave.
5 April - An unnamed militant is reported killed in a car chase in Riyadh.
12 April - A police officer and one militant are killed in a shootout in Riyadh. Rakan ibn Moshen Al-Seikhan and Nasser ibn Rashid Al-Rashid are wounded and escape. Both are reported dead on 4 July.
13 April - Four police officers are killed in two attacks by militants. Several car bombs are found and defused.
15 April - The United States orders all governmental dependents and nonessential personnel out of the kingdom as a security measure.
21 April - A suicide bomber detonates a car bomb in Riyadh at the gates of a building used as the headquarters of the traffic police and emergency services. Five people die and 148 are injured.
22 April - Three unnamed militants are killed by police in Jeddah in an incident in the Al-Fayha district.
1 May - (See: 2004 Yanbu attack) Seven people (two US citizens, two Britons, an Australian, a Canadian, and a Saudi) are killed in a rampage at the premises of a petroleum company in Yanbu by three brothers. All the attackers, dressed in military uniforms, are killed.
22 May - German chef Hermann Dengl is shot and killed at Jarir Bookstore in Riyadh.
29 May - (See: 2004 Khobar massacre) 22 are killed during an attack on the Oasis Compound in Al-Khobar. After a siege, the gunmen escape. 19 of those killed are foreigners.
6 June - Simon Cumbers, an Irish cameraman for the BBC, is killed and the reporter Frank Gardner very severely wounded by gunshots to his head in Riyadh.
8 June - Robert Jacobs, a US citizen working for Vinnel Corp., is killed at his villa in Riyadh.
13 June - One US expatriate Kenneth Scroggs is killed and another Paul Johnson working for Lockheed Martin is kidnapped at a fake police checkpoint in Riyadh. A car bomb is also discovered on this date.
18 June - US citizen Paul Johnson is beheaded in Riyadh. His body is found some time later. A few hours later security services kill five militants (Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, Turki Al-Muteri, Ibrahim Al-Durayhim and two others). A dozen are reported captured.
23 June - Saudi government offers a thirty-day limited amnesty to "terrorists".
1 July - Abdullah ibn Ahmed Al-Rashoud is killed in shootout east of the capital. Bandar Al-Dakheel escapes. Two policemen (Bandar Al-Qahtani and Humoud Abdullah Al-Harbi) are killed.
4 July - The bodies of Moshen Al-Seikhan and Nasser ibn Rashid Al-Rashid are discovered. One had had his leg crudely amputated. Both seem to have been wounded in fights with the security services and died later.
13 July - Khaled al-Harbi, who is listed on the government's most-wanted list, surrenders in Iran, is flown to Saudi Arabia.
14 July - Ibrahim al-Harb surrenders himself in Syria.
20 July - Shootout in Riyadh. Eisa ibn Saad Al-Awshan (number 13 on the list of the 26 most-wanted militants) is killed. Saleh al-Oufi (#4), the head of Al-Qaeda in the kingdom escapes from the raid on the compound where he had been living with his extended family.
23 July - Amnesty offer expires. Six wanted people had turned themselves in.
4 August - Tony Christopher, an Irish expatriate, is shot and killed at his desk in Riyadh.
5 August - Faris al-Zahrani (#11 on the government's list of most-wanted) is captured in Abha without a fight.
30 August - An unnamed US government employee is shot at while leaving a bank in Jeddah. No injuries.
11 September - Two small bombs go off in Jeddah near the Saudi British and Saudi American Banks. Nobody is injured.
26 September - Laurent Barbot, a French employee of a defense electronics firm, is shot dead in his car in Jeddah. Five Chadians confessed to the crime in June 2005.
4 November' - Unnamed 'deviant' is arrested in a shoot-out at an Internet café in Buraidah, Qasim region. Two policemen are injured.
9 November - Shootout in Jeddah. On Al-Amal Al-Saleh Street, police capture four unnamed militants and seize eight AKs and hundreds of locally made bombs. No deaths are reported.
10 November - Government announces the interception of 44,000 rounds of ammunition being smuggled in from Yemen. One Saudi waiting for the shipment is arrested.
13 November - Five unnamed militants arrested in Riyadh and Zulfi. A number of machine guns and other weapons are captured. Nobody is hurt in the gunfight.
17 November - A police officer (Private Fahd Al-Olayan) is killed and eight are injured in a shootout in Unayzah, Qassim. Five persons of interest are detained. Computers, pipe bombs and SR38,000 are seized.
6 December - Invasion of U.S. Consulate in Jeddah: Five employees are killed as five Al-Qaeda militants attack outbuildings and the chancery building before Saudi forces retake the property. Four Saudi special forces were wounded, four hostages were killed and a further 10 wounded in the crossfire.
16 December - A call for kingdom-wide anti-government demonstrations by a London-based group fails.
29 December - Two suicide car bombs explode in Riyadh. One outside the Interior Ministry Complex, the other near the Special Emergency Force training center. A passerby is killed and some people are wounded. In a resulting gun battle, seven suspected militants are killed. Two (Sultan Al-Otabi and Faisal Al-Dakheel) were on the Kingdom's list of 26 Most Wanted.
2005 13 March - Saudi security forces in Jeddah conduct an early-morning raid that kills one (Saed al-Youbi) labeled as a terrorist. One civilian was also killed; five policemen were wounded. Three other suspects were arrested. One was thought to be Ibrahim al-Youbi.
3 April - through 5 April Saudi security forces launch the major Ar Rass raids against a three-house compound, 320 kilometers south of the capital. Fifteen terrorists, including Saleh Al-Aufi, reportedly the Al-Qaeda leader for Saudi Arabia were killed along with Talib Saud Al-Talib, also on the list of the 26 most-wanted piersons. The gunfight lasted for most of two days and included the use of rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and other heavy weapons. Students at a nearby girls' school were in danger from the fire and were evacuated by police who broke down the rear wall to their building."Battle of Al-Ras" by Sabria S. Jawhar and Rob L. Wagner, Saudi Gazette, 12 April 2005. Sites.google.com (12 May 2003). Retrieved on 29 November 2011.