Saudis deploy 2,000 troops, three helicopter squadrons near Iraq

Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has sent attack helicopters and established a command and control center along the border with Iraq.

A member of the Saudi Border Guards stands guard next to a fence on Saudi Arabia's northern borderline with Iraq on July 14. /Faisal Nasser/Reuters — A member of the Saudi Border Guards stands guard next to a fence on Saudi Arabia’s northern borderline with Iraq on July 14. /Faisal Nasser/Reuters

Officials said the Defense Ministry and the National Guard Ministry were cooperating to bolster military deployment along the 800-kilometer border with Iraq. They said the two ministries oversaw the deployment of 2,000 soldiers as well as three helicopter squadrons to prevent infiltration by Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“We are ready to protct the country,” Saudi Border Guard commander Gen. Faleh Al Subaie said.

In a briefing on July 14, Al Subaie provided details of Saudi military deployment along the Iraqi frontier. He said the border is being protected by a new security system that includes a seven-meter-high barrier and a C2 center in the border town of Arar.

Read Complete Article

000 troops, ISIL, Saudi National Guard, Saudis deploy 2, three helicopter squadrons near Iraq

Saudis deploy 2,000 troops, three helicopter squadrons near Iraq added by World Tribune on July 27, 2014
View all posts by World Tribune →