The Terrorist Attack in Kuwait From the Perspective of an American Who Lives There

My thoughts on the recent terror attack in Kuwait, from a person who lives there.

Friday is a day off for most people in Kuwait as it is the Muslim Holy day as Sunday is to Christians. Friday the 26^th of June started off like any other weekend for me, until I received a phone call from my boss. . . . .

I am a contractor in Kuwait, my company assists the Kuwaiti Air Force with maintaining military equipment purchased from the United States. I came to Kuwait almost eight years ago, less than two years after my retirement from active duty U.S. Navy.

Up until this past weekend, Kuwait has been terror free since my arrival. I'm not naive however, and I do realize that there are extremist sympathizers amongst the local residents. Over the last eight years, there have been numerous arrests and plots uncovered, more on that later.

While in the military we were taught certain techniques to minimize risk in foreign countries. Most of it is common sense, things like breaking up your daily routine, taking a different route to work, trying your best to blend in, and not drawing too much attention to yourself. All of things I still practice ten years after my retirement from the military.

. . . .it was about 2:00 in the afternoon when I was headed out to pick a friend up in Salmiya when I got the phone call. It went something like this-

Me: Hello?

Boss: I just needed to account for everybody, now you're accounted for, see you at work on Sunday. (click).

At this point in time, I hadn't heard about the attack which had happened about an hour and a half earlier. So I just looked at the phone with a quizzed look on my face and said to myself “that was odd”, as never once has the boss called to account for me on the weekend.

A little puzzled, I went on to pick up my friend. It was on the ride back to our apartment building that my friend mentioned the bombing, I told him that I hadn't heard and he filled me in on the details as he knew them (which wasn't much).

The attack happened at a Shia mosque that is approximately 20 minutes from my apartment. Initial reports were 13 dead and many more injured, this number would tragically double over the next few hours.

Once I got home, I logged into Facebook and found some local bloggers had posted some relatively gruesome photos from inside the devastated mosque, and some from the outside including of the Emir, (the ruling monarch) visiting the scene. I shared a couple of the non-graphic photos on my page.

After about three hours I heard that the death toll had risen to 27 people. At around the same time, I heard from a local blogger that the government had stated that any expat that shared photos of the scene on social media would be deported immediately, and any citizens who did so would be subject to jail and lashing. I immediately deleted the photos that I posted because I like my job.

Over the last few days more details have come out and some arrests have been made (see the image at the top).

My daily routine has changed only slightly, security getting in to work is noticeably more vigilant and I have noticed extra police presence around a few of the mosques that I have passed by.

I have researched some of the terror related incidents in Kuwait prior to this attack, this list is certainly not all-inclusive. It should be noted that prior to last Friday, the last actual bombing attack occurred in 1983 when the U.S. Embassy, the French Embassy, and the International Airport were bombed. Last Friday is the first time ever that a mosque has been bombed in Kuwait.

Here are few of the terror related incidents in Kuwait (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• May 1985 - A failed assassination attempt was made on Sheikh Jaber Al-Sabah, who was the emir of Kuwait at the time.

• October 8, 2002 - A US Marine was killed and another wounded during training exercises on Failaka Island.
• October 10, 2002 - Two gunmen with ties to Al-Qaeda open fire on an American Humvee.
• November 21, 2002 - Two American contractors with Tapestry Corporation were wounded while driving a civilian vehicle when a Kuwaiti police sergeant opened fire at them at close range.
• January 31, 2005 - Kuwait Police infiltrate a terrorist cell belonging to the Peninsula Lions in a Salmiya apartment complex. Five terrorist members and a civilian bystander were killed.
• August 11, 2009 - Kuwaiti authorities reported that they had arrested six individuals accused of planning attacks on U.S. troops stationed at Camp Arifjan. The six men allegedly belong to a terrorist group with ties to Al-Qaeda.

I am still not afraid to live and work in this country. The majority of the people that I come in to contact with, both citizens and expats, are honest and hard-working people. But as always, I will be vigilant and prepared.