Geoscience Reference
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types of acquisition methods, whether it is purchasing weapons legally, stealing
them, or using the back market and third parties. Abu Eisa al-Hindi, who con-
ducted detailed surveillance of East Coast financial centers for Al-Qaeda in the
summer of 2000, advocated that others following in his footsteps “make use of that
which is available at your disposal and bend it to suit your needs, improvise, rather
than waste valuable time becoming despondent over that which is not within your
reach.”
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Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) did not have the same problems the Provisional
Irish Republican Army (PIRA) had in acquiring weapons with the large cache of
military-grade explosives available to it; yet the PIRA, operating in a more stringent
environment did what it could to make use of what was available to it, continuing
to improvise to make technically efficient weapons.
Al -QAe d A f i Al -JAz e e r A
Forgotten in the wake of groups such as Al-Qaeda in Iraq was the tactical
success of the Saudi branch of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Al-Qaeda
fi-al-Jazeera) from 2003 to 2006.
Although Al-Qaeda did not attack Saudi Arabia before 2003, the king-
dom was regarded as an important target as it is home to the two holiest sites
in Islam as well as huge oil reserves, which became a target for Al-Qaeda
senior leadership's economic jihad. For three years, the group conducted a
number of complex attacks, each aimed at finding the vulnerabilities in the
Saudi defenses surrounding economic targets.
May 2003: On May 12, 2003, three foreign worker targets were attacked
in Riyadh using small arms and explosives. Thirty-five were killed and 200
wounded, the majority of which were Muslims. A similar attack was con-
ducted against another compound in Riyadh killing 18, mostly Muslims.
May 2004: In an attempt to reduce the number of Muslims killed, the
group targeted the offices of ABB Lumus, an oil company in Yanbu. Attacking
in the predawn hours, before Muslim workers arrived, cell members wearing
Saudi Coast Guard uniforms killed four foreigners, including two Americans.
Separate attacks targeted other office parks, killing 22 people, mostly Saudis.
February 2006: Saudi Al-Qaeda attacked the giant oil processing plant at
Abqaiq with multiple VBIEDs and small units. Two VBIEDs in cars with
Aramco logos penetrated the gate near the main gate. The vehicle detonated its
charge, allowing the second VBIED to plow through. Security forces stopped
the second vehicle. In the aftermath of the attack, the leaders of Saudi Al-Qaeda
were hunted down and subsequently killed by security forces.
