How the French Special Forces Liberated the Holiest Site in Islam
The fascinating story of the 1979 Seige of Mecca.
The Group d'intervention de la Gendarmerie (GIGN) of France, despite not being as popular as most other groups of its kind, is one of the oldest professional counterterror units in the world. The group consists of soldiers who have the authority to arrest individuals or groups of individuals suspected of engaging in terrorist acts. One such group of individuals that were targeted by the GIGN was Juhayman al-Otaybi, Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, and 300–600 of his followers who attempted to capture the Grand Mosque in Mecca in November 1979.
The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group
The Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group) is an elite political tactical unit of the French National Gendarmerie. The group’s missions include counter-terrorism, surveillance of national threats, hostage rescue, targeting organized crime, and protection of government officials. The group was formed in 1973 after the infamous Munich massacre. Since then, its responsibilities, capabilities, and numbers have grown drastically. Today, while most of the group’s operations are conducted within France, the unit itself can operate globally.
