Pilgrims in Mecca Injured by 2 Blasts
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Two explosions struck Mecca on Monday night, injuring some of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who were leaving the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest shrine.
No deaths were reported.
An official quoted by the Saudi Press Agency described the explosions as a “criminal act.”
Witnesses in Mecca, contacted by telephone, said armed troops quickly surrounded the Grand Mosque and began clearing pilgrims from the center of the holy city. More than a million Muslims have gathered in Mecca for the annual ritual of the hajj, or pilgrimage.
Mecca and the hajj have been the focus of charges and countercharges between Saudi Arabia’s Sunni Muslim rulers and the Shiite Muslim leaders of revolutionary Iran, who blame each other for riots in Mecca two years ago in which more than 400 people, mainly Iranian pilgrims, were killed.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
