Grand Mosque seizure

The Grand Mosque Seizure was a terrorist attack by some 200 islamic fundamentalists against muslim pilgrims at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, on November 20, 1979. Hundreds of pilgrims who were present for hajj were taken as hostages. Saudi and French security forces retook the shrine in a battle which left approximately 250 dead, and 600 wounded.

The attack is probably the worst example in modern times of violence by Wahabbis against other Muslims, until the insurgency in Iraq following the Second Gulf War.