Saudi Arabia would be willing to commit special forces to Syria should the global coalition decide to deploy ground troops against Islamic State, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
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Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to Syria is “final” and “irreversible”, Saudi military spokesman Ahmed Al-Assiri told reporters Thursday evening as he confirmed earlier comments about sending troops to the country. Mass shootings are a rarity.
Morocco’s top diplomat stressed that Morocco and Saudi Arabia categorically reject any use of communitarianism and any intervention in the internal affairs of the countries, adding that this is a “fundamental and immutable principle”. Moreover, Saudi ground troops in Syria will also be fighting the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah fighters, who had been supporting the Assad regime, together with other Shiite militia that had been supporting the Syrian regime and fighting IS and similar rebel groups. But Saudi Arabia’s military has been entrenched in a brutal conflict in Yemen for more than a year that has cost the kingdom in both cash and capacity.
Authorities shot down a ballistic missile targeting Jazan city on Tuesday and a policeman in the surrounding province was killed, according to reports.
Six people are dead and two others are injured after a man opened fire on his colleagues at an education department building. A Western diplomat said at the time that details of how the grouping would work remained unclear and “they don’t have the infrastructure” yet to run such a coalition.
Saudi policy has become more aggressive and proactive over the past year as it has come under the control of the deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is seen as the power behind the Saudi throne.
Finally, he said, Carter underscored the USA commitment to the enduring defense partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a 35-member coalition of Sunni Islamic nations across the world.
The state TV further quoted Asiri as saying that Saudi Arabia wanted the US-led coalition to agree to the kingdom’s deployment.
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A second issue is whether Saudi ground forces would exclusively focus on eradicating ISIL or whether they would also take steps to push back against the growing Iranian influence on the ground which the Saudi’s are extremely uncomfortable about.
