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(CNN) -- Saudi security forces began storming
a residential complex in the city of Khobar Sunday where
gunmen were holding as many as 50 hostages, a senior Saudi
official said.
The gunmen attacked three locations killing
at least 11 people before taking the hostages when they
barricaded themselves in the residential complex, according
to informed sources and Saudi officials.
There was no immediate word on casualties
or arrests from the attack Sunday.
Western diplomatic sources said one American
and one British citizen were among the dead in Khobar,
an oil industry center about 400 kilometers (250 miles)
northeast of the capital, Riyadh.
Between 20 and 50 hostages -- most believed
to be non-Arabs -- were being held inside the compound,
which was surrounded by Saudi security forces, sources
on the scene said. Saudi officials would only say that
the attackers had taken "many" hostages.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh advised all
American citizens to leave Saudi Arabia, officials said.
The attack started at about 7:30 a.m.
(12:30 a.m. ET) when one group of gunmen disguised in
Saudi police uniforms drove up to the APICORP (Arab Petroleum
Investments Corp.) headquarters in Khobar, the sources
said.
Six people were killed, including a 10-year-old
Egyptian boy whose father worked at the APICORP compound.
Two Saudi security guards, a British citizen, a Pakistani
and a Filipino were also listed among the dead, according
to an Arab News reporter who was on the scene.
A few minutes later, an Indian citizen
caught in the crossfire of a highway shootout was shot
in the neck and died.
At about 8 a.m. (1 a.m. ET), the attackers
stormed the Petroleum Center headquarters about two miles
away, where they killed at least four people, including
an American, the Arab News reporter said.
After entering the compounds, the militants
opened fire at the buildings and moved to Saad Center,
which is part of Oasis compound, where they barricaded
themselves.
Saudi police sealed off the area in an
effort to end the standoff. They could not confirm a casualty
count due to the continuing standoff amid heavy gunfire
and have barred journalists from the area, according to
witnesses.
Several hostages -- most of them Lebanese
-- were freed soon after the ordeal began, Western diplomatic
sources said. The remaining hostages were believed to
be all Westerners or Asians, they said.
Reporters near the scene said it appeared
Saudi security forces at one point attempted to raid the
building but pulled back after taking casualties.
Saudi officials said the attackers were
on a list of wanted militants, many of whom had been linked
to the al Qaeda network.
A Web site that has published statements
from al Qaeda in the past posted a claim of responsibility
for the attack.
Aftermath of the deadly
attack
A previously unknown group calling itself "The Jerusalem
Squadron" said a group of "brave fighters"
attacked "Zionists and crusaders" who are in
Khobar to "steal our oil and resources."
While Saudi officials estimated the number
of attackers at four, witnesses on the scene have suggested
it was higher, since three locations over a two-mile range
were attacked within an hour.
A senior Saudi Interior Ministry official
said it was believed the attackers were under the direction
of people based outside Saudi Arabia.
Al-Arabiya television aired video of the
attack scenes. One image showed a man, apparently shot
dead, still sitting in the driver's seat of a car. One
car was riddled with bullet holes and its seats were covered
in blood, while another was burned out.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador
to the United States, issued a statement condemning the
attack.
"We grieve for the loss of innocent
life and share our deepest condolences with the families
of the victims. These terrorists have no respect for human
life and no regard for the principles of Islam,"
bin Sultan said.
Saudi Arabia has been cracking down on
terrorists since attacks on compounds in Riyadh in 2003.
The government says dozens of terror attacks in the kingdom
-- many blamed on al Qaeda -- have been foiled as a result.
Earlier this month, Swiss engineering
company ABB evacuated its foreign workers from Yanbu in
northwestern Saudi Arabia after gunmen stormed ABB's oil
refinery compound May 1 and killed five Westerners --
two Americans, two British and one Australian.
Saudi officials said those who carried
out the May 1 attack -- all four of whom were killed in
the exchange of fire -- were on a list of wanted militants,
many of whom had been linked to al Qaeda and all of whom
were from Arab nations.
And in April attackers bombed a security
building in Riyadh, killing five people and injuring 148
more.
CNNArabic.com's Caroline Faraj in London
contributed to this report.
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