Saudi security forces are continuing their clampdown on alleged terrorist and criminal elements. Authorities thwarted an attempt to smuggle arms and illegal materials from the southern border with Yemen into the southern Saudi district Najran.
Security forces have recently arrested 4,047 people attempting to enter the kingdom illegally, according to the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayyat. They also caught weapons, machine guns with magazines, bullets, dynamite sticks and explosives.
The head of the Najran district told Al-Hayyat that the weapons were obviously intended to harm national security and civilians. The clampdown on terror has also assisted in controlling other illicit trafficking such as wine, which is forbidden for consumption according to Islamic law, and drugs.
Saudi authorities have of late beefed up border security by placing cameras and barbed wire across the Yemenite border to prevent terrorists from penetrating and wanted people from escaping.
The kingdom has suffered several terror attacks in the past year resulting in the deaths of dozens, both Westerners and Muslims, and is being scrutinized by the West for its support of terror elements.
Yemenite security forces are apparently cooperating in the terror crack down.
Saudi authorities are also increasing security before the annual Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca which is slated to take place at the end of January and is considered one of the most important events in the Islamic calendar. Millions of Muslims are expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia for the event.
Melanie Takefman adds: The recent crackdown coincides with the staging of a Convention for National Dialogue. Around 75 Saudi clerics and intellectuals congregated in Mecca on Saturday for the five-day conference which is probing Islamic extremism in the monarchy and political reforms, according to news reports.