Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 11.25pm: Two vehicles drive up to a compound for foreigners. Gunmen open fire, then ram the building, setting off 400lb of plastic explosives. Minutes later, synchronised attacks are staged on Western targets elsewhere in the city leaving at least 29 dead, 194 injured and sending shockwaves around the world. The Dodge Ram truck and a second vehicle raced up to the front gate of a heavily guarded compound shortly before midnight on Monday in Riyadh’s north-eastern suburbs. This was the local headquarters of the Vinnell Corporation, a US defence company that specialises in training the Saudi National Guard. It is home to many of its employees. Most people were either asleep or getting ready for bed. But the calm was abruptly shattered when gunmen inside the vehicles opened fire on the sentry post, killing the armed guards, and rammed their way into the compound and up to a four-storey building. The deadliest terror attacks against Americans since 11 September were about to be unleashed. Minutes later came the explosion – an estimated 400lb of plastic explosive. Full Story
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