MAKKAH (Kashmir English): Over 1.5 million pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia from outside the kingdom for the Hajj coming next week, exceeding the number of international visitors last year despite the war in the Middle East, according to a Saudi official.
The US and Israeli imposed war on Iran in late February that also saw Tehran order waves of strikes on targets across the gulf, prompting widespread air traffic disruptions and causing travel costs to surge.
Major Gulf airlines in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain then worked to quickly restore much of their operational capacity after weeks of airspace closures and flight cancellations.
Despite the complications, pilgrims from across the globe continued flocking to Saudi Arabia to participate in this year’s Hajj.
Total number of Hajj pilgrims so far
“The total number of pilgrims arriving from abroad has reached 1,518,153,” Saleh Al-Murabba, the commander of Saudi Arabia’s Haj Passport Forces, told a press conference.
These figures are expected to rise further over the next two days as pilgrims continue to arrive from abroad ahead of the formal rituals that mark the beginning of the Hajj on Monday.
Last year, the total number of pilgrims stood at 1,673,320, including 1,506,576 from outside Saudi Arabia.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.
