After a thorough sweep for booby traps and the thunderous reports of detonations from large Al-Qaeda arms caches, residents are beginning to return to the site of what is considered the longest, toughest and bloodiest battle of the war against terrorism in Saudi Arabia. Calm prevailed in the northwestern town of Al-Rass yesterday in the aftermath of Saudi security forces' rout of Al-Qaeda militants last week. Residents of Al-Jawazat District, where the militants holed up for three days, were allowed to return after security forces cleansed the area of explosives. Many families have already returned. Special forces stationed in Al-Rass were scheduled to withdraw yesterday. "I feel things are back to normal," said Suliman Al-Ayed, a resident of Al-Rass.
| "Except for the guys in turbans running around shooting people, of course..." |
Security forces detonated hand grenades and other explosives left behind by the terrorists in the district. "Three big explosions were heard on Thursday. These were the sound of detonations carried out by the security forces to destroy a large cache of weapons and explosives left behind by the terrorists," Al-Ayed said. The detonations delayed the return of some 1,000 Saudis and expatriates who were evacuated from the area during the siege, security sources said.
| "We can't go home now, Fatimah! Things are still exploding!" |
Col. Muhammad Al-Shahrani, commander of special forces in the Qasim region, said residents were prevented from returning to the area soon after the operation for their own safety as terrorists had booby-trapped houses in the area. Khaled Al-Johani, a resident, said he heard about the operation on Sunday while he was at work, adding that he was concerned about his wife and four small children who were at home at the time of the gun battle. "By the grace of God, I was able to bring them out with the help of security officers. Over the past five days we have been staying with a relative," he said. The signs of fierce combat are evident on a number of pockmarked buildings in the area. Police found a check for SR20 million in a briefcase, SR200,000 in cash, forged number plates and a computer system used for forgery from houses in the area, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.
| Wonder who wrote the check? |
Meanwhile, a military transport plane removed the bodies of terrorists killed in the fighting to Riyadh for forensic examination. These included the bodies of Saud Al-Otaibi and Abdul Kareem Al-Majati, both of whom were on the list of the Kingdom's most wanted terrorists. It was unconfirmed whether Saleh Al-Oufi, the top leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, was among those killed in the Al-Rass battle. "Only after DNA analysis can we identify the bodies," said a security source. Three of the bodies were disfigured beyond recognition. |