100,000 troops to secure this year’s haj, Saudi Arabia says

MECCA: The spokesman for Saudi Arabia's interior ministry says some 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to oversee the annual Islamic haj pilgrimage that begins on Tuesday.

Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki says among those securing the massive crowds during haj are members of an elite counterterrorism unit, traffic police and emergency civil defence personnel. They are being supported by additional troops from the army and national guard.