More than 1.7 million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina near Mecca on Wednesday to perform the Stoning of the Devil, the final major ritual of the Hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, as fears of a renewed Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the world's largest annual gathering.
Mina, Saudi Arabia © Mena Today
More than 1.7 million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina near Mecca on Wednesday to perform the Stoning of the Devil, the final major ritual of the Hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, as fears of a renewed Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the world's largest annual gathering.
From dawn, waves of pilgrims took turns hurling pebbles at three concrete pillars symbolising Satan, re-enacting the moment Abraham drove away the devil at the three spots where he had tried to dissuade the prophet from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
The ritual marks the culmination of days of physically gruelling worship, performed this year under punishing heat, temperatures on Mount Arafat, where pilgrims prayed on Tuesday in one of the Hajj's most sacred moments, reached 45 degrees Celsius.
After the stoning, pilgrims return to Mecca for a final circumambulation of the Kaaba — the black cubic structure at the heart of the Grand Mosque toward which Muslims worldwide turn to pray, completing the pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia has launched an air accident probe following last week's cockpit stabbing on a flydubai jet, as experts examine any fallout for aviation safety alongside a separate UAE-led criminal investigation, three people close to the matter said.
Houthis attacked the international airport in the southern Yemeni town of Aden with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones early on Wednesday, Yemen's Transport Ministry said, as fighting intensified across several fronts between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi-backed government forces.
Israelis will on Wednesday mark three years since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a military assault that destroyed much of Gaza, where conditions remain dire despite a year-old ceasefire that is meant to halt the war for good.
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