100,000 troops to secure this year’s Haj
08:56, 21 September 2015
MAKKAH. KAZINFORM - Some 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to oversee the annual Islamic Haj pilgrimage that begins on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.
Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said among those securing the massive crowds during Haj are members of an elite counterterrorism unit, traffic police and emergency civil defense personnel. They are being supported by additional troops from the army and national guard. The pilgrimage comes as Saudi Arabia faces an expansion of Daesh group attacks that have killed dozens of people this year. Al-Turki vowed in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Saturday that militants "cannot control a centimeter anywhere in Saudi Arabia." The Haj is expected to draw up to 3 million people from around the world this year to Makkah. Kazinform has learnt from Arab News.