https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/feature/the-forgotten-massacre-of-yemeni-pilgrims-in-tanomah-sadwan

The forgotten massacre of Yemeni pilgrims in Tanomah, Sadwan of Saudi Arabia

In 1923, gangs belonging to the founder of Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud shot dead over 3,000 Yemeni pilgrims heading toward Mecca to perform the annual Hajj.

When they arrived in Tanomah and Sadwan in Asir of Saudi Arabia, the gangs called Al-Ghatghat started shooting the pilgrims, killing 3,105 peaceful pilgrims, according to Professor Hamoud Al-Ahnoumi, author of the book titled "The Great Massacre of Pilgrims…The massacre of Yemeni pilgrims in Tanomah and Sadwan by Ibn Saud’s gangs in 1923."

Al-Ahnoumi told Al Mayadeen English, citing Yahya bin Ali Al-Dhari's manuscript archived at the Great Mosque of Sanaa, that one of the scholars, Ahmed Al-Washli who arrived from Mecca, said: "the number of survivors was about 500 people, of whom 150 continued their way to Hajj."

Speaking about what pushed Ibn Saud to commit this crime, Ahnoumi said this massacre was a British "acceptance test" for him to be its man in the region.

"Britain was preparing Ibn Saud to be its first man and main agent in the region, who would implement its disruptive and differentiating project, but it wanted him to carry out an acceptance test that would qualify him to be its man who could carry out any ugly thing it asked of him," Ahnoumi said.

He added, due to the fact that Yemenis would not allow Ibn Saud to control the Two Holy Mosques with the UK's support, the two sides committed Tanomah and Sadwan massacre to prevent Yemenis from defending the two holy sites, stressing that the "Tanomah massacre took place in 1923 and the storming of the Two Holy Mosques by Ibn Saud with British support took place in 1924."

According to Ahnoumi, the war between Yemen and Saudi Arabia broke out in 1934 and ended with the Treaty of Taif, with this massacre being one of the causes of the war.

The following is the full text of the Al Mayadeen English interview with Professor Hamoud Al-Ahnoumi.

Was Ibn Saud’s reaction to the massacre of Yemeni pilgrims similar to the reaction of Mohammed bin Salman's reaction to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi?

The bloody approach on which the Saudi rule was founded with colonial support since the so-called first Saudi state is a continuous approach, and what we call today the hideous and horrible ISIS behavior towards opponents is the behavior that the Saud family and their authority have adopted since the first day.

When the soldiers of the Saud family shot and killed those [Yemeni] pilgrims in an ambush while they are safe, then slaughter them with swords and knives and separate their heads from their bodies, as proven by the numerous documents that we have received, and similar incidents occurred before and after that like when the Saudi regime kills Khashoggi, who lived his life as a Saudi regime propagandist, but when he began directing some of his advice to them, they dismembered him, which emphasizes that the bloody Saudi approach has not changed and that it is a behavior rooted genetically within this bloody entity with a colonial function.

How was Ibn Saud able to cover up this crime and bury it, and what was the position of America and Britain regarding this massacre?

Ibn Saud was able to cover up and bury the massacre through four things:

1- Investing a lot of money flowing from oil to clean the dirt and filth of the regime, creating a local, regional and global environment that only displays the advantages, many of which are exaggerated, and works to bury all the crimes committed and have been perpetrated by the Saudi entity.

2- The rulers of the Saud family directed their universities and centers to hold international conferences and symposiums where many researchers and academics are usually summoned, and a lot of money is bestowed upon them, provided that they write extensive praises and favors for the rulers of the Saud family, and bury all their shortcomings, which produced many armies of scribes, researchers, centers and universities with a mission to fawn over the Saud family, and this is well known in academic circles.

3-They punished everyone who wrote about the truth, and deprived them of their wealth. Moreover, they even punished truthtellers by depriving them of Hajj and Umrah throughout their lives, as happened to the professor of modern and contemporary history, Professor Sayed Mustafa Salem, may God have mercy on him, whom the Saudis looked at with disdain, despite him trying to be fair and objective. Yet the Saudis did not accept him unless he was part of the flock, otherwise, he should not enter Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah.

Part 1