(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Military chiefs from around the world will gather in the Saudi capital today to assess the battle against Islamic State extremists, diplomatic sources said.
The two-day meeting, a followup to earlier talks, will gather "all the countries that are involved" in the US-led fight against IS, including Gulf nations, one of the sources said.
"I think it'll be sort of a general appraisal of where we're at, what needs to be done," added the source, who asked for anonymity.
Another diplomatic source said the meeting is "more an exchange of information" and a chance for co-ordination, rather than a forum for major decisions.
The talks among defence chiefs and their deputies coincide with the rise of IS in Libya, which has heightened concerns in the region after the group seized parts of Iraq and Syria last year.
Arab states have intensified their bombing of IS targets since the militant group in early February claimed to have burned alive the Jordanian fighter pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, whose plane went down over Syria last year.
Jordan's information minister on Monday said Bahrain had deployed fighter jets in the kingdom to support the anti-IS air campaign.
Also on Monday, the state news agency in the United Arab Emirates said its Jordanian-based warplanes hit oil refineries run by the militant group.
Monday's statement did not say how many aircraft from the UAE
squadron were in action, or where or what their targets were.
The squadron deployed to Jordan on Sunday to boost the kingdom's fight against IS after the militants brutally murdered the captured pilot.
C-17 transporters and refuelling planes were also sent on the orders of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan as a show of solidarity.
"The initiative... reaffirms the UAE's unwavering and constant solidarity with Jordan and its leading role and immense sacrifices for the security and stability of the region as embodied by martyr and hero Maaz al-Kassasbeh," the UAE state news agency Wam said on Sunday.
Following Kassasbeh's murder, the UAE withdrew from the coalition's strike missions over fears for the safety of its pilots.
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