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Qatari forces join major military exercise in Saudi Arabia

Xinhua, February 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Qatar announced Monday that a Land Force of the Qatari Armed Forces consisted of a mechanized infantry battalion left Doha for Saudi Arabia to join in "Ra'ad Al-Shamal" maneuver, a military exercise involving some 20 nations.

Qatari Force's Commander Major Rashid Saleh Al Hajri said in a statement before leaving for the Kingdom that the Qatari participation will be in different sectors in the field exercises, command centers exercises and tactical exercises, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA).

Al Hajri added that this exercise addresses any challenge facing the region, hoping that the exercise will be a good sign towards an ongoing cooperation with the brotherly and friendly countries to achieve peace and security in the region.

He stressed on the importance of the maneuver and the need of cooperation between the brotherly and friendly countries.

"Ra'ad Al-Shamal" or "Northern Thunder" military exercise which will be carried out at the King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al-Batin, northern Saudi Arabia, is said to be the largest maneuver in the region's history in terms of the number of participating countries and qualitative military equipment of diverse sophisticated weapons and military equipment.

It will bring together Gulf Arab countries, as well as Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti, Comoros, Pakistan, Malaysia, Senegal, Chad, Maldives and Mauritius.

The three-week massive drill aims at promoting military cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab and Islamic countries, developing competencies, raising combat readiness, and training the participating forces on using modern military mechanisms.

The maneuver comes months after Saudi Arabia announced a 35-member coalition of Muslim nations to fight terrorism and amid rising tensions in the region over the wars in Syria, Yemen. Endit