Path of Blood is a 2018 British documentary film directed by Jonathan Hacker and sourced from several hundred hours of Al Qaeda footage captured by Saudi Arabian security services.
Path of Blood is an archive-driven picture told in the present tense. The film explores the battle between Al Qaeda and the security services in Saudi Arabia between 2003 and 2009 during which Al Qaeda in the Kingdom were successful in carrying out a number of terrorist atrocities against various government and civilian targets. The film was released in the United States on 13 July 2018.
Synopsis
In 2001, in the rubble of Tora Bora, Osama bin Laden orders his most senior lieutenants to return to his homeland of Saudi Arabia and launch a revolution. Their aim: to conquer the land of the Two Holy Mosques and from there to establish a worldwide Muslim empire that would take on the West and win.
The May 2003 Riyadh compound bombings that launch Al Qaeda’s campaign, take Saudi society by surprise. But the government is quick to respond, and the stoic security chief Prince Muhammad bin Nayef relentlessly focuses all the firepower of the Saudi state on tracking down and killing the terrorists. Al Qaeda still has a lot up its sleeves and both sides are forced to ratchet up the violence.
During the course of the long and bloody war that follows, intelligence services captured hundreds of tapes shot by Al Qaeda’s own foot soldiers. Using only this material, as well as rare CSI footage shot by police to record the carnage, this startling film tells the story of Al Qaeda’s daring – and ultimately suicidal – mission to topple the House of Saud.
Timeline of key events
Abbreviations
AQAP – Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
MOI – Ministry of Interior (Saudi Arabia)