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At least five militants penetrated two layers of security at the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Dec. 6, sparking a standoff with U.S. Marines and Saudi security forces that lasted at least three hours. Three militants were killed and two were arrested. Nine other people, including four Saudi national guardsmen, also were killed and several other people were wounded in the attack, which began at 11:15 a.m. local time.
In addition to the Saudi guardsmen, one local guard and four foreign service employees at the consulate also were killed, according to the U.S. State Department. Their nationalities were unknown. Initial reports indicated that several hostages were held during the standoff, but the U.S. State Department later said it has not been confirmed whether a hostage situation took place.
An attack of this nature was not unexpected. Stratfor has been saying for some time that renewed attacks against U.S. facilities in Saudi Arabia were likely to take place in the fall. Nevertheless, a number of lessons can be learned from the successes and failures of both the attackers and the defenders of the 30-acre compound.
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