Terrorist groups claim they represent religion and use faith to justify their actions. So why do they often attack the holiest places and kill innocent people, even those who follow the same religion? On Friday, Saudi security forces foiled a terror plot targeting the Grand Mosque in Mecca and arrested five members of an extremist cell after a bomber detonated his explosives injuring six foreign pilgrims and five members of security forces. The attack appeared to have been the work of ISIL, although hours after the incident, no group had claimed responsibility. The event exposed the workings of three terror cells, two based in Mecca and the third in Jeddah.
Targeting Mecca, particularly Al Masjid Al Haram, and in the last ten days of Ramadan, shows the utter hypocrisy of these extremists. Al Masjid Al Haram, or The Sacred Mosque, serves as the common direction towards which all Muslims pray. It is also the primary destination for pilgrimages from all over the Muslim world. Yet it was still targeted by extremists.
Last year, terrorists succeeded in carrying out three suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, one of them was an explosion in a car park used by the emergency services near the second holiest site in Islam Al Masjid Al Nabawi, or the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, killing four members of the security forces.
Elsewhere in the region, ISIL returned to its despicable tactic of destroying another key religious site, this time in Mosul. The Iraqi city is home to the Great Mosque of Al Nuri, an 800-year-old site where the leaning minaret has enchanted visitors and worshippers for centuries. The minaret was destroyed by ISIL operatives, who now control an ever-decreasing patch of land. Fewer than 300 extremists are believed to still be inside the old city.
The destruction of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri shows the group is intent on a final shot in anger before it is finally overrun. It has been reported the mosque had been booby-trapped with explosives by ISIL to slow down the progress being made by Iraqi troops. These are the desperate acts of a group that knows its days are numbered.