Some 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to oversee the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage that begins on Tuesday, said the spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry, reports UNB. Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki says among those securing the massive crowds during hajj are members of an elite counterterrorism unit, traffic police and emergency civil defense personnel. They are being supported by additional troops from the army and national guard. The pilgrimage comes as Saudi Arabia faces an expansion of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people this year.