(MENAFN- Morocco World News) The Moroccan army will participate in regional military exercises called 'Northern Thunder' which will be led by and held in Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
In addition to Morocco and Saudi Arabia 18 Arab and Islamic countries will participate in these exercises including UAE Jordan Bahrain Senegal Sudan Kuwait Maldives Pakistan Chad Tunisia Comoros Djibouti Oman Qatar Malaysia Egypt Mauritania Mauritius in addition to the Peninsula Shield Force (PSF). The Algerian military will not be able to partake in the exercises because the country's constitution forbids the military from performing drills outside of the country's borders. Established in 1984 The PSF is the military wing of the Gulf Cooperation Council – a political and economic union consisting of all the Arab countries surrounding the Arabian Gulf excluding Iraq. The exercises will be held at PSF headquarters inside King Khalid's military city of Hafr Al-Batin in northern Saudi Arabia. The exercises are “the most important and the largest in the history of the region” and are held in response to “the highest maximum alert level of the armies of the 20 nations in participation” according to a statement by the SPA. Northern Thunder 'will represent the strength of the Arab armed forces as it will include the use of sophisticated military and air force equipment' and will include the maximum number of regional participants the statement said. Altogether the exercises are designed to be 'a clear message to … friends of the participating countries that Arab countries stand together as brothers to maintain peace and stability in the region” the statement continued. However Saudi Col. Ibrahim Al-Marie had denied last week any link between the exercises and Saudi Arabia's coming intervention in Syria emphasizing that the exercises are meant to be part of the region's defensive not offensive mission.
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