RIYADH, 1 July 2004 — Two terrorists, including Abdullah ibn Ahmed Al-Rashoud, one of the 26 most wanted, were shot dead in a fierce gunbattle with security forces east of the capital yesterday.
Two police officers were also killed and three civilians injured in the shootout, according to a security source.
The name of the second terrorist killed was not known but Bandar Al-Dakheel, also on the list of the most wanted terrorists in the Kingdom, managed to flee the shootout scene in a Ford Crown Victoria.
The source added that Al-Rashoud was wearing an explosive belt when he was killed in the clash in Al-Quds district and a special bomb squad unit managed to remove the belt from around his body half an hour after he was shot dead.
The dramatic series of events leading to the shootout started at around four o’clock in the afternoon yesterday. Security forces surrounded the area after they discovered that a group of terrorists was hiding in a villa at the Abi Uqaba Al-Thaqasi Street in the King Fahd district. All roads leading to the two-story villa, behind the Al-Nahdi Pharmacy, were sealed off. Spikes were strategically placed in a bid to stave off an escape bid.
Following a brief gunbattle the terrorists tried to escape in two cars — a GMC Suburban and a Toyota Corolla — with the security forces hot in chase. The GMC Suburban was destroyed by police fire, but the suspects managed to stop a gray Honda Civic and tried to flee.
Stocks of arms and ammunition were recovered from the villa. According to a source at the scene, the villa was completely booby-trapped and full of explosives “enough to cause a major destruction in the entire area.”
The security forces defused the booby-trap after storming the two-story villa in which several terrorists and their families were believed to be residing.
The source said it was evident that five families were staying “here because we found five separate kitchens and women’s clothes during the raid.”
He added that the villa contained a specially made first aid room with all medical facilities. It is believed that the wife of Abdul Aziz Muqrin, the top Al-Qaeda leader slain recently, also lived in the villa.
The police gave chase to two terror suspects driving a gray Honda Civic on King Fahd Road. The pursuit reached the Al-Quds district near the intersection of Khalid ibn Alwaleed Street and Prince Abdullah Road. One of the two assailants opened fire on the pursuing police patrol car near the KFC restaurant. Police officer Humoud Abdullah Al-Harbi was killed instantly by a shot in the head.
Bloodstains of the slain officer were splashed on the outside of the vehicle. The police patrol car was damaged on one side as the officer tried to force the terrorists’ car to a halt, but failed.
The chase continued into Al-Waqar Street in the Al-Quds district where a fierce gunbattle took place between the terrorists and the police officers. As a result, Al-Rashoud was killed and several civilians were injured. Bandar Al-Dakheel managed to escape by stopping a green Ford Crown Victoria at gunpoint.
The fugitive then fled to Al-Rawdah district, a source told Arab News.
Sources at Al-Alam Medical Center, in Al-Quds district, where the injured were brought, told Arab News that officer Al-Harbi was taken to the center in a Red Crescent ambulance where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Three other injured police officers were also admitted to the center. One of them, Bandar Al-Qahtani, later succumbed to his wounds. According to the sources, one officer was shot in the right arm, one in the right shoulder, and one in the upper left shoulder.
Three injured civilians who were caught in the cross-fire were also admitted to hospital. The source added that one Sudanase arrived bleeding profusely and a Southeast Asian national was in critical condition. The third civilian’s nationality or condition was not revealed.
A plainclothes police officer, whose house was close to the site of the gunbattle and where the terror suspect in the Honda was killed, said that he did not imagine that one day terrorism would reach his own doorstep. “I’m a plainclothes police officer and I woke up to the sound of gunshots and police car sirens at about 4 p.m. I never thought the day would come that this menace would take place right outside my house. These people are animals,” he said. Shortly after the gunbattle police closed exits 10 and 11 on the East Ring Road and sealed off the entire area. Helicopters were hovering over the district in search of the fugitive in the Ford Crown Victoria. Police patrol cars, several Red Crescent ambulances, as well as Special Forces Units rushed to the scene.
The area where the gunbattle took place was only two blocks away from Al-Hamra district near the Jarir Bookstore Shopping Complex where unknown gunmen carried out a drive-by shooting that killed German national Hermann Bengler as he left the Arab National Bank on May 22.
In another incident, police besieged a building near Sahari Shopping Center on King Fahd Road where several terror suspects were believed to be holed up.
Al-Rashoud used to teach at the Scientific Institute of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University in Al-Malaz area of Riyadh. He disappeared after leaving his teaching job several years ago.
Members of his family say they were shocked to see his name and picture on the list distributed by the Interior Ministry of the most wanted terror suspects. They are adamant that they knew nothing of his activities.
