• The Line is expected to be completed by 2030, and only 2.4km of it is expected to be completed.
• Satellite images of three demolished villages reveal homes, schools, and hospitals have been wiped off the map.
• The clearance order was for al-Khuraybah, a village populated by the Huwaitat tribe.

An ex-intelligence officer has informed the BBC that Saudi authorities have allowed the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being constructed by dozens of Western companies. Col Rabih Alenezi claims he received orders to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, a component of the Neom eco-project. Subsequently, one of the villagers was shot and killed for protesting against the eviction.

The Saudi government and Neom management declined to comment. Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion (£399 billion) eco-region, constitutes part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.

Its flagship project, The Line, is presented as a car-free city, measuring just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long, although only 2.4km of the project is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030. Several global companies, including several British ones, are involved in Neom’s construction.

Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has described the area where Neom is being built as the perfect “blank canvas.” However, his government reports that more than 6,000 people have been moved for the project, while UK-based human rights group ALQST estimates the figure to be higher.

The BBC has analyzed satellite images of three of the demolished villages – al-Khuraybah, Sharma, and Gayal. The images reveal that homes, schools, and hospitals have been wiped off the map.

Col Alenezi, who went into exile in the UK last year, states that the clearance order he was asked to enact was for al-Khuraybah, located 4.5km south of The Line. The villages were predominantly populated by the Huwaitat tribe, who have inhabited the Tabuk region in the country’s northwest for generations.

He stated that the April 2020 order declared that the Huwaitat were composed of “many rebels” and “whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed,” thus licensing the use of lethal force against whoever remained in their homes.

He stated to the BBC that he dodged the mission on invented medical grounds, but it nevertheless proceeded. Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti refused to allow a land registry committee to value his property and was shot dead by Saudi authorities a day later during the clearance mission. He had previously posted multiple videos on social media protesting against the evictions.

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