Burj Rafal Hostage Crisis
| Burj Rafal Hostage Crisis | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Heraclius | |||||||
 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United KingdomSaudi Arabia |
 Taliban | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Taalib el-Saladin † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10 SAS soldiers, 25 Mabahith officers, large numbers of Saudi police officers | 10 fighters | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| One hostage killed by terrorists, two Mabahith officers killed, three SAS operatives wounded, 5 security guards killed | Six fighters killed, 4 captured | ||||||
The Burj Rafal Hostage Crisis was a hostage crisis that occurred on the 5th of August 2017 during Queen Alexandra's visit to Saudi Arabia. The hostages, which notably included those of the queen and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman were held by 10 Taliban-based fighters, whom were later subdued by undercover SAS units, aided by the Saudi Mahabith agency.
Background
Prior to the incident, the Queen of Great Britain Alexandra I had organized a 3-day long diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia in order to meet with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in which the latter was at that time Alexandra's romantic interest. At the same time, she was accompanied by 10 undercover SAS operatives who had been assigned as escorts following rumours of a Taliban vengeance plot which was connected to the queen's involvement in Afghanistan as an UKSF operative.
Crisis
Day One
On the first day, at exactly 9:30 AM, the British delegate was received at the King Fahd International Airport and was escorted under heavy security to the Al-Yamama Palace where the queen exchanged a warm, personal conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. The queen and her entourage were then taken on a tour throughout the palace and was later treated to a formal afternoon lunch at 12 PM.
Between 1 to 5 PM, the queen spearheaded a troop inspection of the Saudi Arabian army at Prince Sultan Air Base and was later given a tour of the military base. One occasion, the British delegate were treated to an air show by Saudi pilots which involved 5 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. An agreement to further extend aerial defence cooperation was reportedly signed during the process between the queen and crown prince, though this was later confirmed to be false. The queen later spontaneously participated in the military trainings before departing back for Al-Yamama Palace.
Day Two: Siege
At 8:15 AM, British delegate, accompanied by the Crown Prince and royal bodyguards arrived at the Burj Rafal hotel, which prior to the meeting, had been emptied several days before with the exception of the hotel staff members. According to official reports, 10 minutes before the meeting, the accompanying SAS operatives were secretly informed of the arrest of a 57-year old Afghan national named Mirza Haqeem, believed to be a Taliban agent who had "allegedly" been to Saudi Arabia to visit his relatives in Buraydah, 365 kilometres north-west of Riyadh.
While the meeting was in progress in Room 175, at exactly 10:30 AM, 7 armed men of Afghan nationality stormed the lobby while the remaining three Taliban agents, whom had been undercover as a hotel staff member went to look for the royals and their escorts. Upon reaching the first floor, the three men were caught by surprise by two SAS operatives on patrol, leading to a short exchange of gunfire which resulted in two of the fighters killed while the third fighter was able to retreat. By this time, both the queen and the crown prince were alerted of the situation. At the same time, Prime Minister Theresa May and the UKSF board were quickly briefed on the ongoing situation, however any military actions was hampered by the amount of time it would take to reach Riyadh. Three minutes later, additional Mabahith officers were deployed to the hotel by the request of Mohammed bin Salman himself.
By 11:15 AM, with the hotel being completely surrounded by Saudi police officers, the group's leader Taalib El-Saladin promptly issued demands that they would surrender the hostages inside in exchange for a compensation of 40,000 riyals and a safe passage to leave the kingdom. This was quickly denied and tensions soon accelerated when one of the hotel staff, Umaima al-Jaffer was executed out of anger for the police's refusal to cooperate.
At 11:25 AM, the royal pair had been successfully cleared from the building through an alternative back door, leading the mission to secure the remaining 29 hostages held captive by El-Saladin's men. At the same time, the Saudi police reluctantly agreed on a compromise to gradually provide both the compensation and safe passage with five hostages returned at every exchange. Two of the fighters were then sent to hunt down the royals, unbeknownst of their escape. In a second altercation, both fighters were killed by the combined SAS-Mabahith force.
By 12 PM, 15 of the hostages had been returned which lowered the risk of civilian casualties in a hypothetical engagement. Benefiting from this, the SAS-Mabahith force quickly cornered El-Saladin and his men with the remaining 14 hostages. After a short altercation of words, El-Saladin and one of his men were quickly gunned down by a SAS operative while the remaining fighters then surrendered.
Aftermath
Soon after the crisis's conclusion, the queen and her entourage were quickly escorted to Prince Sultan Air Base and from there, was safely flown back to the UK while details of El-Saladin and his men were soon released. The remaining four fighters were put on trial and then were executed on charges of terrorism and murder. A day later, Hibatullah Akhundzada, leader of the Taliban issued a fatwa proclaiming vengeance on behalf of their fallen comrades. The queen was partly mentioned Hibatullah's speech, in which the former was put with a 500 million pound worth of bounty in exchange for her life. In response, the British government then launched the joint British-Saudi Operation Heraclius to hunt down El-Saladin's associates and primarily, Taliban agents based in Saudi Arabia.
The commanding SAS operative, Lt Cian Wright was then bestowed with a CBE and several military honours by the queen for his conduct during the hostage crisis alongside the other SAS operatives involved.