Saudi State Security Designates 13 Individuals, 3 Entities as Terrorist

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi State Security Designates 13 Individuals, 3 Entities as Terrorist

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

The Saudi State Security designated on Monday 13 individuals and three entities as terrorist.

A Lebanese national and two Iranians were blacklisted for ties to Iran's Quds Force and the Iran-backed terrorist Hezbollah party in Lebanon.

Four people, including an Afghan and a Syrian national, and a company were blacklisted for ties to ISIS.

Two Syrians were found to have set up the Qaterji company that sold fuel to ISIS and cooperating with other terrorist groups, such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Six people were designated for financing the terrorist Boko Haram group.

They had set up a cell in the United Arab Emirates that is affiliated with the group and funding its terrorist activities in Nigeria.

Two groups, the Saraya al-Ashtar and Saraya al-Mokhtar, were designated terrorist.

They are based in Bahrain and backed by Iran. They receive financial, logistic and military support from the Iran Guards.

The State Security said the assets of the designated persons and entities will be frozen and all direct and indirect activity with them will be barred.



GASTAT: Number of Umrah Performers Rose by 31% in Q4 2024

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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GASTAT: Number of Umrah Performers Rose by 31% in Q4 2024

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), in its report on Umrah statistics for the fourth quarter of 2024, revealed on Thursday that the number of Umrah performers increased by 31% compared to the same quarter in 2023.

The report showed that males constituted about 53% of the Umrah performers, while females accounted for 47%. Saudi nationals comprised 4.5% of the total, with the Makkah Region recording the highest number of domestic Umrah performers.
The report also indicated a 26.2% increase in international Umrah performers compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Of these, 64.7% arrived with an Umrah visa. December saw the highest number of international Umrah performers at 38.2%, while November recorded the highest percentage of domestic Umrah performers completing the ritual for one time, representing 34% of the total.
Umrah statistics have been issued quarterly since 2024, detailing the numbers and percentages of domestic and international Umrah performers based on data from the Pilgrim Experience Program, along with approved statistical models.