Riyadh exercises military muscle


Issue 1011 - 04 Mar 2016 | 1 minute read

A huge military exercise called Raad Al-Shamal (Northern Thunder) began on 27 February in the north of Saudi Arabia, involving forces from Saudi Arabia and 19 other countries, as well as a contingent from the Gulf Co-operation Council’s Peninsula Shield Forces. Those involved ranged from regional heavyweights such as Turkey and Egypt to minnows like the Maldives and Djibouti. In an apparent triumph for Deputy Crown Prince and defence minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s 34-country alliance to fight terrorism, announced in December, the official Saudi Press Agency described the exercise as the largest military drill in the world, in terms of the number of participating forces and the land area involved.

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