In a series titled "Mythical Commando: Stories of Military Operations that Changed the Course of History," the French newspaper Le Figaro recalled the story of the 1979 attack on Beit al-Haram, outlining how the attack was done and how it was aborted.
For two weeks, a group of militants managed to barricade themselves inside the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, carrying out what was described as an "unprecedented terrorist act" that had repercussions in the Muslim world and raised alarms among Westerners about the stability of the largest oil producer. In the world.
In order to determine the time context in which this attack took place, the newspaper highlighted that according to the Islamic calendar on Tuesday, November 20, 1979 has a special symbolism; the surprise of Muharram 1400 of the migration, the beginning of a new century.
According to Le Figaro, the leader of this group, Juhayman Al-Otaibi, considered the hadith, which says "God sends the head of every hundred years who renews my nation's religion", that he is addressing him and his group in particular, especially as they saw in my brother, the wife of Juhayman, "Mohammed bin Abdullah" What made them believe that the Mahdi is expected.
The newspaper cites many details, such as that the attackers decided to storm the House of God at the time of dawn prayer, and brought with them coffins they claimed to be dead they want to pray the funeral prayer, and immediately after the prayer opened those coffins, which were filled with weapons and ammunition and distributed weapons to their group, which included about Two hundred items.
Dozens of these gunmen began shooting in the air, causing panic among worshipers and pilgrims.
They controlled the guards, who were armed only with sticks, according to established practice, and then rushed to the wide gates and tightened the closure to prevent the arrival of security forces.
Juhayman then gave his men an order to extract weapons hidden in the mosque, climb into the seven minarets, and install machine guns over them to detect and deal with any threat remotely.
After confirming control of the situation, Juhayman took the loudspeaker and declared before his worshipers a pledge of allegiance to his brother-in-law as "the Mahdi", as was pledged by all members of his group and even some pilgrims.
" The attackers decided to storm the house of God at the time of Fajr prayer, and brought with them coffins that they claimed were for the dead who want to pray them funeral prayer " |
The attack was like a thunderbolt on the Saudi authorities, said Lefigaro.
In fact, the case was not simple, especially as the hero of this operation Juhayman Al-Otaibi belongs to a large Arab tribe, and is reckoned with in Saudi Arabia, according to the newspaper.
The great dilemma, according to the newspaper - was in the use of weapons within this edifice where the fighting is prohibited, and was overcome by the then Saudi King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz, where he was able to obtain a fatwa from Saudi scientists allowed him to use force to expel "terrorists."
But the first attempt to do so turned into a "massacre." Juhayman sniper holed up in lighthouses and armed with precision weapons were on the lookout for Saudi forces, and as soon as they approached, they rained a barrage of fire, causing dozens of casualties.
Thus, Saudi Arabia's attempt to deal with this issue before its news spread - initially trying to obscure it - failed, sparked feelings across the Muslim world and threatened to stir up tensions throughout the region, according to Figaro.
A picture of a number of the attackers of the House of God (1979) (American Press) |
Accusing America
According to the newspaper, the leader of the Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini accused America of being behind the attackers, and the masses of angry Muslims attacked everything that symbolizes America in Turkey, Bangladesh, Libya and Kuwait, attacked banks, embassies and cultural centers, and even the Pakistanis burned the US embassy in their country and killed two soldiers were .
The protests led to the evacuation of the US State Department and all US embassy staff from all Muslim countries and their return to Washington, with the exception of US diplomats in Saudi Arabia.
After the failure of the first attempt, Saudi Arabia decided to use large means, armored soldiers' vehicles drove to the place and stormed the gates, and combed the beacons, and bombed the inner courtyard of the Grand Mosque.
After they were forced to retreat, they took refuge in the basement of the mosque, where they had stored weapons and food in anticipation of the siege, and took a number of pilgrims with them hostage.
" Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini accused America of being behind the attackers. Angry Muslims attacked everything that symbolized America in Turkey, Bangladesh, Libya and Kuwait, attacking banks, embassies and cultural centers. " |
Because these vaults have hundreds of interconnected rooms in a maze of dark corridors, the Saudi forces found it very difficult to track them down, as they chased them with heavy fire.
They did not enter Islam or entered Mecca
After the siege lasted several days, the Saudi authorities resorted to the experience of French special forces, which sent three of its commanders to Taif, where they trained a number of Saudi forces to break into these rooms by making a hole in the bottom of the building and pumping gas from a strong chemical compound leads to tears A burning sensation in the skin and mucous membranes has also provided a sufficient number of bulletproof vests and gas masks for Saudi forces.
The newspaper quoted the leader of the French group as saying that the Saudis were so suspicious of the effectiveness of the French offer them, so that the French commander tried gas in front of them on one of his team members and also tried before them shot in a bullet-proof vest.
This leader, Paul Barrell, asserts that the French never crossed the city of Taif, and that those who said they entered Mecca were fabricated a lie, nor did they enter Islam as rumored.
The French special forces plan paid off in the end, Barrell said. Their faces and lungs were burned, suffocating and tears pouring out of their eyes and surrendered without resistance on December 4, 1979, two weeks after the siege.
Dozens of these attackers were killed, and 61 of them were sentenced to death. They were of Saudi, Egyptian, Yemeni, Kuwaiti and Iraqi nationalities.