Siege of Mecca 1979: Millions of Muslims from all over the world go to Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrimage. After this holy journey in the year 1979, an attack took place here, which shook the whole world. Claiming themselves to be the Messiah sent by God, more than 200 terrorists entered Mecca’s Masjid-al-Haram and took thousands of worshipers hostage. This attack is considered the biggest attack in Saudi’s modern history.
20 November 1979 was the day when all the rituals of Haj had been completed in Mecca Mukarrama and Medina Munawwara and many people had returned to their respective countries. Despite this, about one lakh people were present in Khana-e-Kaaba because it was the first day of the year i.e. Muharram. These people were expecting that the King of Arabia Shah Khalid would come to Khana-e-Kaaba and participate in the first Fajr Namaz of the century.
The attackers surrounded the worshipers
At the time of morning prayers (Fajr) (5:15 am) in Mecca’s Masjid al-Haram, people were just sitting after offering prayers when armed attackers wearing white clothes surrounded the worshippers. He took the mike and started ordering his people to take position. He was speaking in Arabic.
Even killing an ant in Masjid al-Haram is a crime; the security personnel posted there never carry weapons. In such a situation, the big question was, where did these people get the weapons from? They were already present in the mosque and their weapons were kept in coffins there. By throwing dust in the eyes of the security forces, he was brought inside in the form of a funeral procession.
Bulleting started in Masjid al-Haram
As soon as the prayers ended in Masjid al-Haram, people saluted and the sound of bullets started being heard in their ears. Due to this, even the birds roaming fearlessly in Haram Sharif started fluttering and the armed people started taking positions from here to there. Meanwhile, it was announced from the microphone of the mosque that Imam Mehndi has arrived and now there will be justice in this world full of oppression and injustice. The person standing near the mike, whose name was Juha Man Al Tabi, pointed towards one of the worshipers and said that he was Imam Mehndi. The real name of the person who was described as Imam Mehndi was Mohammad Abdullah Al Qahtani.
When about 1 lakh people, full of fear, ran towards the doors to get out of Masjid-ul-Haram, it was found that the doors had already been closed with iron chains. After this, a 45-year-old man armed with weapons again approaches the mike of the Imam of Hyman Al Tabi Khana-e-Kaaba and again approaches the mike and threatens that if anyone does anything wrong, he will be killed.
Citizens of India and Pakistan were separated
Most of the one lakh people present there did not know Arabic, so the terrorists separated the citizens of India and Pakistan. Among them, we picked a person who knows Arabic, Hindi and Urdu. He had people to deliver messages in English to the people of other countries. The attack was led by Juhayman al-Otaybi, who had previously served in the army and was the leader of a group of students teaching Islamic education.
As soon as the news of the disturbance was received, the policemen deployed in the mosque premises reached there. The mosque which was attacked. At that time, the Chief of Saudi Intelligence had gone to Tunisia with Crown Prince Fahd to participate in the Turkish Arab League. Apart from this, Saudi National Guards Chief Prince Abdullah was also in Morocco. After receiving information about this attack, preparations for the operation were started.
Army asked religious leaders for permission for military operation
The biggest problem in this operation was that no major military attack could be carried out in the mosque, because this mosque is one of the holiest places in the religion of Islam and the Kaaba is also present here. Saudi army asked permission from religious leaders to start military operation. After getting permission, the Saudi army started moving towards the mosque complex. The army was not able to succeed in its mission because it was equipped with weapons and could take limited action in the premises. In no time a week passed and the attackers were still inside.
Help sought from Pakistan-France
After this, the Saudi Arabian government sought help from Pakistan and France, after which the armies of both the countries set out for Saudi Arabia. After receiving foreign help, the position of the Saudi Army became stronger. After about two weeks of operation, some part of the mosque was captured by the Saudi army and some part by the attackers. Some attackers took shelter in the underground area of the mosque. Security forces threw smoke bombs to drive out the attackers, due to which breathing became difficult and the attackers surrendered.
After this operation that lasted for 14 days, about 137 attackers were killed and 63 were arrested. The 63 attackers were publicly executed in eight cities of Saudi Arabia a month after their arrest. Iran had held America responsible for this attack and Muslims had demonstrated against this attack all over the world. The American Embassy was set on fire by an angry mob in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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