First group of Afghan pilgrims returns from Hajj

The Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs said on Tuesday that the first flight carrying 346 Afghan pilgrims has landed in Kabul, and that Afghan pilgrims still in Saudi Arabia will return home over the next few days.

“We finished the Hajj rituals in a good way, all the pilgrims are healthy and performed their rituals correctly,” said a teacher who accompanied the Afghan pilgrims. 

Meanwhile, Afghan pilgrims who performed Hajj rituals said after arriving home that their journey had been well planned and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) had taken good care of everything.

“We are very grateful to the Islamic Emirate for really serving the Afghan pilgrims and taking care of all the affairs of the pilgrims,” said one of the pilgrims.

“We are happy with the Islamic Emirate for providing us with a good environment. We performed our Hajj ceremony in a good way and very happily,” said another pilgrim. 

However, among the 30,000 pilgrims, a large number of government officials also participated in the Hajj ceremony this year.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the government officials used the government’s Hajj quota and not the people’s share.

Last year, 12,000 people from Afghanistan participated in Hajj rituals, but this year, 30,000 people traveled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj ceremony, and it is hoped that Afghanistan’s quota will increase in the coming years.