Did Wikipedia remove the word "terror" from the Riyadh compound bombings article?

Yes. "terror" appeared 7 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 23. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Riyadh compound bombings article stop using the word "terror"?

The word appeared 7 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-01.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Riyadh compound bombings article used to say?

Each snapshot on this page links the Wikipedia revision it came from, so you can open their own history and compare. We also keep our own copy of the text, which stays readable if the article changes again.

What did Wikipedia remove from the Riyadh compound bombings article?

The opening as it read in 2005

These deadly attacks, attributed to al-Qaeda , were the first of several “spectacular attacks” carried out by that group in 2003 , and the deadliest attack on Americans that year. One of the bombed compounds.¹ Early in May , the US State Department warned that terrorists were in the final stages of planning terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government also warned of this, and issued an alert for 19 men believed to be planning attacks.² Late on May 12 , while much of Riyadh was asleep, three vehicles: a car, a pickup, and an SUV , drove through the streets of Riyadh. Their targets were three compounds: The Dorrat Al Jadawel, a compound owned by MBI International and Partners, the Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corp. Compound, a compound owned by a Virginia-based defense contractor that was training the Saudi national guard. All contained large numbers of Americans and Westerners. Around 11:15 PM, a car packed with explosives attempted to gain entry to the Jadawel compound. Guards opened fire, causing a small gunbattle with the suicide bombers. They then detonated their car, killing the three Saudi security guards. At the Al Hamra Oasis Village and the Vinnell Corp. compound, the bombers shot the security guards outside the compound gates. They then opened the gates with the security controls and drove their trucks into the compounds. As they fired wildly, they screamed phrases like “Death to the Infidels!”. They then detonated both of their bombs, devastating the compounds. 26 people died, including 9 Americans. The nationalities of the other dead were seven Saudis, three Filipinos , two Jordanians , and one each from Australia , Britain , Ireland , Lebanon and Switzerland . In addition, 9 suicide bombers died, bringing the entire toll from the attacks to 35. More than 160 other people were injured, including more than two dozen Americans. Bush was informed of the attacks while on a national trip, and called them “ruthless murder.” Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah condemned the attacks as works of “monsters” and vowed to destroy the terrorist group that ordered them. After the attacks, Saudi Arabia began a harsh crackdown on terror, arresting more than 600 terrorist suspects and seizing bomb equipment, guns, bomb belts, and thousands of weapons meant for a terrorist campaign around the kingdom. The US believes that al-Qaeda is behind the attacks, which did claim responsibility later. Attacks in Casablanca five days later led the US to raise its terror threat level from yellow to orange several days later. There was one more large-scale attack in Saudi Arabia in 2003. On November 8 , on the day the US State Department warned of further attacks in that country, a suicide truck bomb detonated outside the Muhaya Complex in Riyadh, killing 18 people and wounding 122. The attack killed all Arabs, many of them workers from Muslim countries such as Egypt and Lebanon. This attack turned some Muslim favor to al-Qaeda away, since they killed mostly Muslims.³

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16290763.

The opening as it stood in 2010 24 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia . Altogether, some 35 people were killed, and over 160 wounded. A smaller campaign of insurgency in Saudi Arabia had started in November 2000 when car bombings were carried out targeting and killing individual expatriates in Riyadh and other cities. Early in May 2003, the US State Department warned that terrorists were in the final stages of planning terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government also warned of this, and issued an alert for 19 men believed to be planning attacks.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368708406.

The opening as it stood in 2015 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia in 2003. On 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corporation Compound. On 8 November, a bomb was detonated outside the Al-Mohaya housing compound west of Riyadh, killing at least 17 people and wounding 122. The bombings have been attributed to Islamic extremists and part of a campaign against Westerners and Westernization in Saudi Arabia thought to have been sparked by the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979 .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668700574.

The opening as it stood in 2020

Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia in 2003. On 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corporation Compound. On 8 November, a bomb was detonated outside the Al-Mohaya housing compound west of Riyadh, killing at least 17 people and wounding 122. The bombings have been attributed to Islamic extremists as part of a campaign against Westerners and Westernization in Saudi Arabia. They are thought to have been sparked by the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979 .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963001093.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023

2003 suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by al-Qaeda Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia in 2003. On 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corporation Compound. On 8 November, a bomb was detonated outside the Al-Mohaya housing compound west of Riyadh, killing at least 17 people and wounding 122. The bombings have been attributed to Islamic extremists as part of a campaign against Westerners and Westernization in Saudi Arabia. They are thought to have been sparked by the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979 .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1152909180.

The opening as it stood in 2025

2003 suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by al-Qaeda Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia on 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded (mostly Westerners) when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis Village, and the Vinnell Corporation Compound. On 8 November, a bomb was detonated outside the Al-Mohaya housing compound west of Riyadh, killing at least 17 people and wounding 122, mostly Arab foreigners. The bombings have been attributed to Islamic extremists as part of a campaign against Westerners and Westernization in Saudi Arabia. They are thought to have been sparked by the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979 .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1290729468. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.