level security at the Grand Mosque this year for Haj, with over 8,000 male and female officials on duty, according to Col. Yahyia Al-Zahrani, Commander of the Grand Mosque's Security Forces. Al-Zahrani appealed to Makkah residents to pray at their neighborhood mosques to allow pilgrims to perform their rituals at the Grand Mosque. Several undercover officials had helped reduce crime, particularly pickpockets, he said. Security officers had also helped in guiding pilgrims to the upper stories of the Grand Mosque, especially during the second and third days of Tashreeq when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims poured into the Holy Haram to perform the Farewell Tawaf.
