Saudis mobilise security forces against possible threats to annual Muslim haj pilgrimage
Muslim haj could offer tempting target to jihadist militants
More than 100,000 members of the Saudi security forces will help protect the 2 million worshippers expected to participate in the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage this week, but no specific militant plots have been detected, a senior spokesman said on Tuesday.
The world’s largest annual gathering of Muslims has in the past seen deadly stampedes, fires and riots, with authorities sometimes struggling to respond.
Saudi Arabia, which stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites and organising the haj, has been hit by bombings by Islamic State in the past two years.
The Islamist militant group, which launched attacks around the world after seizing large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, is now on its back foot in those countries.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Turki said the security services had dismantled a number of militant cells in Mecca and Medina over the past few years.