| Iraqi ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Gulf War | |
 Aftermath of an Iraqi missile attack on a US barracks in Dhahran on 25 February 1991 | |
| Type | Airstrike |
| Location | Dhahran and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Target | Saudi Arabian and American military targets |
| Date | 18 January – 26 February 1991 |
| Executed by |  Iraqi Armed Forces |
| Casualties |
|
| Gulf War | |
|---|---|
| Invasion of Kuwait
Naval operations
Post-ceasefire |
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Personal Affiliations Political offices
Rise to power
Presidency
Desposition Elections and referendums Novels 
.svg) |
||
Between 18 January and 26 February 1991, Ba'athist Iraq launched 46 al-Husayn Scud missiles against Saudi Arabian and American military targets in Dhahran and the Saudi capital of Riyadh amidst the Gulf War. Attacks began hours after US General Norman Schwarzkopf emphasized large-scale efforts taken to comb the vast expanses of western Iraq for missile attacks aimed at Israel.
Although the attacks were largely inaccurate, the missiles caused 28 of the 148 United States battle deaths during the Gulf War. Most of the Iraqi ballistic missiles fired at Saudi Arabia were aimed at military targets, leading to low civilian casualties.
Background
The threat posed by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to the Arabian Gulf states forced Saudi Arabia to back Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War and cut its diplomatic ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iraq saw each other as allies with a common goal of counterbalancing Iranian expansion and radical Shia Islamism. Unlike Iran, Iraq was not too aggressive in challenging the status quo of the Saudi Kingdom, causing Saudi Arabia to view Iraq as a buffer state against Iranian expansionism. Despite declaring neutrality in the Iran–Iraq War, Saudi Arabia supported Iraq diplomatically, politically and financially, offering loans of $25 billion.
Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with Iraq and allowed 700,000 US troops to enter the country. Saudi Arabia's air bases served as the main staging areas for US aerial airstrikes against Iraqi targets during the Gulf War.
Attacks
The first Iraqi missile was launched at Saudi Arabia on 18 January, although it was destroyed over Dhahran Air Base by US Army's Patriot air-defence missiles. On the night of 20 January, US Patriot air-defence missiles intercepted nine Iraqi Scud missiles fired at major Saudi cities and military installations, including five launched at Dhahran and other four at Riyadh. A tenth Scud missile landed in the Persian Gulf. The Saudi Press Agency reported that the attack on Riyadh slightly injured 12 people as a result of "some shrapnel" which "fell on a building in one of the districts of Riyadh".
On 25 January, Iraq launched two missiles at Riyadh. According to American sources, both missiles were detected, although only one was intercepted in the air by a Patriot. The second one was hit, but not destroyed. The warhead of the second missile totally destroyed one wing of the six-story Ministry of Interior Civil Records building, consequently killing one Saudi citizen and injuring 30 people of different nationalities. During the next three days, two Iraqi missiles fired at Saudi Arabia were intercepted. On 3 February, an Iraqi missile hit Riyadh at 1:00 am, slightly injuring 29 people, mostly due to splinters of glass windows.
The missile attack on Hafar al-Batin on 14 February was the last attack that inflicted civilian casualties or damage in Saudi Arabia or other areas in the Gulf. Prior to the attack on 25 February, Iraqi Scud missile attacks killed one person and injured about 85.
On 25 February, an Iraqi Scud missile demolished a makeshift United States barracks in Dhahran that housed more than 100 American troops overnight. 28 American soldiers were killed, 110 were hospitalized and 150 experienced minor physical injuries. This attack caused the highest number of casualties since Iraq started launching Scud missiles against Saudi Arabia on 18 January. This one Scud's impact accounted for more than a third of all US soldiers killed during the Gulf War. The 14th Quartermaster Detachment, one of the units billeted at Dharhan and specializing in water-purification, suffered the heaviest toll among US troops deployed in the Persian Gulf, with 81% of its soldiers killed or wounded. According to CNN, an Iraqi Information Ministry official stated that missiles were aimed at Dhahran "to punish those who gave up honor". US military officials refused to discuss the incident and confiscated news photographers' film.
Casualties
The missile attacks took a very low death toll on Saudi Arabia's civilian population. Only one Saudi civilian was reported killed in Riyadh on 25 January, when an Iraqi missile hit a six-story government building, and another 77 were lightly injured. Reports of civilian casualties ceased after an attack on 14 February that lightly injured four people in Hafar al-Batin. A single Iraqi missile attack caused 28 of the 148 United States battle deaths.
References
- ^ Moore, Molly. "U.S. Missiles Knock Down Nine Scuds Over Saudi Cities". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Rostker, Bernard (2000). "Information Paper: Iraq's Scud Ballistic Missiles". Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control from 2000 to 2006. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
- ^ "Civilian Casualties and Damage: Saudi Arabia". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- Rakipoğlu, Mehmet. "Revisiting the Saudi Position During the Iran-Iraq war". Sakarya University.
- ^ Dris-Aït-Hamadouche, Louisa; Zoubir, Yahia H. (2007). "The Us-Saudi Relationship and the Iraq War: The Dialectics of a Dependent Alliance". Journal of Third World Studies. 24 (1): 109–135. ISSN 8755-3449.
- ^ Claiborne, William. "Scud Kills 27 GIs at Dhahran Billet". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- Apple Jr., R. W. (26 February 1991). "WAR IN THE GULF: Scud Attack; Scud Missile Hits a U.S. Barracks, Killing 27". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- Humphrey, J. C. (May 1999). "Casualty management: scud missile attack, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia". Military Medicine. 164 (5): 322–326. ISSN 0026-4075. PMID 10332169.
- "14th Quartermaster Detachment". US Army Quartermaster Foundation. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- "Scuds bring death as Saddam hits back". Belfast News-Letter. 26 January 1991. p. 1.
- Military operations of the Gulf War
- 1991 in Saudi Arabia
- Building bombings in Saudi Arabia
- Iraq–Saudi Arabia relations
- 1991 building bombings
- Military operations involving Iraq
- Cross-border operations
- Dhahran
- 20th century in Riyadh
- Attacks on military installations in 1991
- January 1991 events in Asia
- February 1991 events in Asia
- Military operations involving Saudi Arabia