Armed forces from around 20 countries were gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for \u201cthe most important\u201d military maneuver ever staged in the region, the official news agency SPA reported.
\nThe \u201cThunder of the North\u201d exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a \u201cclear message\u201d that Riyadh and its allies \u201cstand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region\u201d, SPA said.
\nSaudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Iran-backed militias in its southern neighbor Yemen. Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight \u201cterrorism\u201d in Islamic countries.
\nSunday\u2019s announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the U.S.-led coalition targeting the ISIS militant group, said it has deployed warplanes to a Turkish air base in order to \u201cintensify\u201d its operations against ISIS in Syria.
\nSPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last.
\nHowever, the agency called it the \u201cmost important and largest in the region\u2019s history\u201d in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used.
\nTwenty countries will be taking take part, SPA said.
\nAmong them are Saudi Arabia\u2019s five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added.
\nA Saudi source said on Thursday that members of the new \u201canti-terrorism\u201d coalition will gather in Saudi Arabia next month for its first publicly announced meeting.
\nRiyadh has said the alliance would share intelligence, combat violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary.<\/p>\n
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