KABUL: (MEP) Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced a coalition of 34 Islamic nations has been formed to fight “any terrorist group”, according to a joint statement published on state news agency SPA.
“The countries here mentioned have decided on the formation of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint operations center based in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations,” the statement said.
Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and several Gulf Arab and African states make up the coalition, the statement added.
The announcement said there was “a duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organisations whatever their sect and name which wreak death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorise the innocent.”
The United States has been increasingly outspoken about its view that Gulf Arab states should do more to aid the military campaign against Daesh militant group based in Iraq and Syria.
In a rare press conference, 30-year-old crown prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman told reporters on Tuesday that the campaign would “coordinate” efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan, but offered few concrete indications of how military efforts might proceed.
“There will be international coordination with major powers and international organizations … in terms of operations in Syria and Iraq. We can’t undertake these operations without coordinating with legitimacy in this place and the international community,” bin Salman said without elaborating.
Asked if the new alliance would focus just on Daesh, bin Salman said it would confront not only that group but “any terrorist organization that appears in front of us.
