History and composition

According to a report from the New York Times, the personnel that would make up the Rapid Intervention Force originally received paramilitary training from Tier 1 Group sometime before 2017. The move was initially authorized by then-

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through the

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. Louis Bremer from Tier 1 Group’s parent company,

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, insisted the training was only for protective security of MbS, and not for carrying out targeted assassinations. There was no evidence that the US Department of State was aware what the operatives-in-training would be utilized for. According to the ''Middle East Eye''s source, the Tiger Squad was formed in 2017 and , consists of 50 secret service and military personnel. The group members are recruited from different branches of the Saudi forces, directing several areas of expertise. The source was independently verified by ''Middle East Eye'', though it could not confirm his information. On the other hand, ''

BBC Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availab ...

'' reported a team of fifty Saudi officers to target Saudi critics was created in summer of 2018, and, according to

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intelligence became aware in September 2018 of a "tiger team" to be created by Asiri for covert operations against unknown targets. The Middle East Eye source said the Tiger Squad assassinates dissidents using varying methods such as planned car accidents, house fires, or injecting toxic substances into adversaries during regular health checkups. Saudi Crown prince

Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...

had selected five members of his personal security team to serve in the Tiger squad.

Role and organization

The Rapid Intervention Force serves the

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is the second-most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the King, and is his designated successor. Currently, the Crown Prince assumes power with the approval of the Allegiance Council after he is nomi ...

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...

as both a

protective security unit A protective security unit typically provides policing, security, intelligence and bodyguard services for sovereigns and politicians. It can be contrasted with a security service, which provide protective security intelligence such as the British ...

and counter-dissident force. While it is officially part of the

Saudi Royal Guard Regiment The Saudi Arabian Royal Guard ( ar, الحرس الملكي السعودي Al-Ḥars al-Malakī as-Suʿūdī) is a unit in the Saudi military forces. Originally an independent military force, the Royal Guards were incorporated into the Armed Fo ...

, it is solely loyal to the Crown Prince. It has been operating as early as 2017, already engaging in forced repatriations of Saudi dissidents, arbitrary detention and torture of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The unit is overseen by Saud al-Qahtani, the former General Supervisor of the Center for Studies and Media Affairs, with its commanding officer being Maj. Gen. Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a senior officer of the

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Alleged operations

Claims of particular operations include: *2 October 2018 –

Jamal Khashoggi Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...

* 2018 – Sheikh Suleiman bin Abdul Rahman al-Thuniyan * 2018 – Omar Abdulaziz (preliminary phase) * 2018 – Saad bin Khalid Al Jabry (attempted)

Jamal Kashoggi

According to the Middle East Eye source, the five members of the Tiger Squad selected by Mohammad bin Salman allegedly spearheaded the 15-member death squad responsible for murdering and dismembering Washington Post columnist

inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In a later report, Middle East Eye stated seven members of the 15-member death squad were Mohammed bin Salman's personal bodyguards. According to the BBC source, the whole 15-member death squad killing

were part of the Tiger Squad (Tiger Team). ''

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'' reported that according to US officials who had access to classified intelligence reports, the members of the team involved in killing Khashoggi were also involved in more than a dozen operations since 2017. The US officials referred to this team as "Saudi Rapid Intervention Group". The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' had reported citing anonymous intelligence officials that some members of the team had received special operations training by a company operating in

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under the licence of the

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as part of US-Saudi cooperation.

Al-Thuniyan

The Tiger Squad also reportedly killed Suleiman Abdul Rahman al-Thuniyan, a Saudi court judge who was murdered by injection of deadly virus into his body when he had visited a hospital for a regular health checkup. "One of the techniques the tiger squad uses to silence dissidents or opponents of the government is to 'kill them with HIV, or other sorts of deadly viruses'". However, some sources have stated that al-Thuniyan died after he suffered from a chronic disease.

Omar Abdulaziz

''Middle East Eyes source said, "I know of another attempt, which was to lure Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz in Canada to the consulate and kill him, but Abdulaziz refused to go and the mission failed. Khashoggi was the first uccessfuloperation." Abdulaziz said he was approached in 2018 (before Jamal Khashoggi was murdered) "by Saudi officials who urged him to visit their embassy with them to collect a new passport". Abdulaziz said that after he refused, Saudi authorities arrested two of his brothers and several of his friends in Saudi Arabia. He secretly recorded his conversations with those officials, which were several hours long, and provided them to ''The Washington Post''. Neither he nor the newspaper allege these officials wanted to kill him during the meetings.

Saad bin Khalid al-Jabry

In 2020, Saad bin Khalid al-Jabry, a former senior official in the Saudi government, exiled in Canada, filed a lawsuit in the United States against Mohammad bin Salman, alleging that bin Salman had sent the Tiger Squad to Canada in 2018, "carrying two bags of forensic tools", aiming to assassinate al-Jabry. The Tiger Squad agents were blocked on entry to Canada by border officials.

Sanctions

In February 2021, the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

placed sanctions on Asiri and the entire squad unit for their alleged involvement in the killing of Khashoggi.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , title= Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denies sending hit squad to Canada , date= 2020-12-08 , newspaper=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-55232926 , access-date=2020-12-09 , archive-url= https://archive.today/20201208234941/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55232926 , archive-date= 2020-12-08 , url-status=live

External links

Jamal Khashoggi: What more can we learn from his death?
Saudi dissident

Sa'ad Al-Faqih Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih ( ar, سعد راشد محمد الفقيه ; born February 2, 1957), also known as Saad Al-Fagih, is a Muslim Saudi national and former surgeon who heads the Movement for Islamic Reform in ArabiaBBC Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availab ...

about the Tiger Squad, published on Nov 6, 2018 Extrajudicial killings History of Saudi Arabia Human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia Law enforcement in Saudi Arabia Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia Paramilitary organisations based in Saudi Arabia Protective security units Saudi Arabian assassins Arab Winter