Braving the heat and uneven surfaces, Muslim pilgrims scaled Mount Arafat to perform a key ritual of the annual Islamic pilgrimage.

Starting at dawn, the more than 1.6 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca.

Thousands of white-robed pilgrims recited Quranic verses from dawn on the 70-meter rocky rise near Mecca, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his last sermon.