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1st LD: Riyadh says ready to send troops to Syria to fight IS

Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Saudi general said on Thursday that his country is ready to participate in a ground operations in Syria to against fight Islamic State (IS) militants, Al Arabiya local TV reported.

Brigadier Ahmed Asiri, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen, told an interview with the Arabiya TV that Saudi Arabia is ready to join ground operations in the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria.

The general said his country has been an active member of the anti-IS coalition since 2014, and has carried out more than 190 aerial missions, adding that to beat IS group, the coalition needs to combine aerial operations with ground operations.

The pledge came after two suicide bomb attacks targeting a Shiite mosque in the Kingdom late last month that killed two people, and injured seven more. Several similar attacks were registered last year, of which they were adopted by IS militant group.

Saudi Arabia has now been leading the Arab coalition against Shiite Houthi group in Yemen in a bid to restore the rule by President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The kingdom also announced late last year the formation of a military coalition of 34 Muslim-majority countries to fight terrorism. Endit