Watch This Crazy Middle Eastern Assassination Attempt Drill

A video has been circulating on social media purporting to capture an assassination attempt on Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, but by every indication appears to show a VIP protection exercise or demonstration in Kuwait. It's still a sight to behold, especially at the end when a member of the close protection team can't get the passenger door of an SUV open and dives through the window instead before the vehicle speeds away.

The video starts with what appears to be a traditionally dressed Arab dignitary arriving at what looks to be an arms exhibition in a black SUV. He then walks toward the convention center with another individual and his entourage in tow, before someone in the crowd charges at them and gets body-slammed by security personnel. A second person appears to get ordered to lie on the ground, as well.

There is little question that this attempted assassination is staged, with none of the onlookers are running for cover and many individuals are steadily filming what's going on with their cell phones. Other nearby uniformed personnel take no action what so ever as the events unfold around them.

After the initial incident, members of the VIP protection detail quickly form a phalanx around the principal and rush him back into the black SUV while others shoot at the attackers. Someone drops a blue smoke grenade to further cover the escape. 

At the very end, the remaining personnel scramble to get into a red SUV. One of them struggles to get the door open and ultimately decides to just jump into the passenger's seat through the window, after which they speed away after their compatriots.

It's an intense half minute or so in total of action. Still, all told, this demonstration is somewhat muted compared to more extravagant propaganda displays we've seen from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkmenistan. It certainly doesn't compare to this terribly awesome music video promoting Azerbaijan's Border Guard. It's also very contained compared to the U.S.-led special operations forces demonstrations that accompany the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Florida.

To reiterate, we don't know when or where this occurred exactly, but the license plates on the SUVs appear to be Kuwaiti and are definitely not Saudi. There are no reports of any repute corroborating any attempt on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's life in recent days. Beyond that, copies of this video have been circulating online since at least Dec. 13, 2019. One post also falsely claims that it shows a recent murder of a Saudi national in Eygpt.

If you have any further information on where and when this drill or demonstration took place or the circumstances surrounding it, please feel free to let us know by Email or in the comments below.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com