Saudi Enlists Women in Army
KABUL (MEP) — The Saudi Defense Ministry has allowed women to be enlisted in its armed forces for the first time.
The move comes amid plans by Saudi officials to gain US and Western backing, MEP reports.
Saudi Arabia’s recent push to provide more freedom for women are being implemented in a bid to “Saudi Vision 2030” development plan.
The Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat citing Hassan al-Shehri, director of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense’s National Operations Center reported that the measure permitted women to serve from soldier ranks to “senior ranks” across its different military branches.
Al-Shehri said thousands of women will be recruited in the program.
Saudi women’s freedoms have increased in recent years, and last year they were allowed to drive, travel without male permission.
