KSA announces the security plan procedures and the entry of more than a million pilgrims so far

Mecca - INA

The Saudi Hajj Security Command announced today, Saturday the security plans and the distribution and receipt of all sectors participating in this year’s Hajj season for their tasks and the commencement of work on them.

The Director of Public Security in Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Hajj Security Committee, Lieutenant General Muhammad Abdullah Al-Bassami, said during a press conference attended by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “The security forces have developed smooth plans, in coordination with all partners from ministries and agencies, to facilitate the movement of pilgrims,” stressing that “All security plans were developed according to studies based on previous security plans and aim to prevent any security breach during the Hajj season and provide security and an appropriate atmosphere for the guests of God.”

He pointed out that "the implementation of the security plans resulted in the arrest of (140) fake campaigns deceiving citizens to perform Hajj within the Kingdom, in addition to the arrest of about (64) unofficial pilgrim transporters, as well as the return of approximately (97,664) vehicles that did not carry entry permits to the Holy City of Mecca pointing out that “the security forces also returned approximately (171,587) residents who did not hold Hajj permits.”

Al-Bassami added, “The security forces imposed about (10) thousand penalties, and approximately (4,032) people were arrested to whom the penalties apply, most notably penalties related to (6) thousand violators of entry permits to Mecca,” noting, “The security services called on those carrying Visas to enter Mecca expire before the Hajj ceremony when leaving Mecca. (153,939) people were caught not holding visas that would allow them to remain inside Mecca during the Hajj season.

He called on pilgrims to "adhere to the conditions and controls set by the security services in order to facilitate their movement smoothly and without any obstacles."

In turn, the Commander of the Special Emergency Forces, Major General Muhammad bin Maqbool Al-Omari, said: “Organizational plans have been adopted to support the security plans with the participation of sectors and service agencies to organize the movements of pilgrims. Many emergency teams have been deployed in various regions of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Medina and in a number of axes, and several measures have been imposed security cordons and the adoption of rapid intervention units, civil defense teams, and social organization forces.”

For his part, the Commander of the Hajj Civil Defense, Major General Hamoud bin Sulaiman Al-Faraj, said: “The defense teams have adopted a number of modern technologies and artificial intelligence to facilitate the movement of pilgrims and achieve safety conditions in the pilgrim camps,” noting that “the competent authorities have coordination with all Hajj delegations from In order to provide safety conditions for the guests of God.

In turn, the Commander of the Hajj Passport Forces, Major General Saleh bin Saad Al-Murabba’, confirmed that “an integrated plan has been developed to provide services to the guests of God to ensure the smooth flow of business and the quality of services provided to pilgrims and to receive them from all ports of air, land and sea,” indicating that “the Passport Command has adopted modern methods and equipped all The ports are equipped with technologies and artificial intelligence to facilitate the process of updating pilgrims’ data and issuing Hajj visas, and the mobile counter was adopted for the first time this year, in addition to the adoption of modern technologies,” noting that “the number of pilgrims coming from abroad reached one million and 352 thousand pilgrims who entered the Kingdom through air, sea and land ports. 

In addition, the Commander-in-Chief of Security Aviation, Major General Pilot Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al-Duraijan, said: “The Air Force has a role in securing the Hajj atmosphere, securing rituals, and supporting the Red Crescent Authority,” noting that “the Air Force carried out (220) reconnaissance sorties at a rate of (351) flight hours, and the security aviation is expected to carry out more than (440) reconnaissance flights, exceeding (550) flight hours, to secure roads and ports and prevent any violations.