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‘Islamic coalition against terrorism’: Saudi Arabia presents 34-state military block
15
December, 2015
A
Riyadh-based “Islamic military alliance” has been formed with a
mission to fight terrorism, Saudi Arabian state TV has announced. The
coalition consists of 34 countries, including the Gulf States, a
number of African countries, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia and Pakistan.
Countries
involved in the coalition aside from Saudi Arabia, include Jordan,
the UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo,
Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon,
Guinea, the partially-recognized state of Palestine, the Islamic
Federal Republic of the Comoros, Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania,
Niger, Nigeria, Yemen.
“The
countries here mentioned have decided on the formation of a military
alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint
operations centre based in Riyadh to coordinate and support military
operations,” state
news agency SPA quoted an official statement as saying.
Yemen Updates
#Saudi announced a global Islamic Alliance to combat terrorism globally, with its center based in Riyadh.
The
statement added that the coalition has “a
duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist
groups and organizations whatever their sect and name which wreak
death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorise the
innocent,”Reuters
quotes.
The
coalition’s headquarters will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s
capital.
Currently,
there are a number of active coalitions fighting terror groups such
as Islamic State (IS, Daesh, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria and Iraq.
The
US-led coalition has gathered the support of at least 65 countries.
However, various media reports have claimed that less than a dozen
states are actually contributing, with American jets carrying out
most of the strikes.
Moreover,
the coalition has received international criticism for being
ineffective.
“We
can state the [US-led] coalition is simulating the fight against ISIS
and real terrorism and acts on its own politicized approach to the
situation, which runs counter to international law, at least in
Syria. Now we can see that [this happens] not only in this country.
As is known, the inactivity of the actions of the [US-led] coalition
was distinctly confirmed by the growing ISIS problem,” Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said last week.
The
US-led coalition’s airstrikes in Syria have never received
permission from Syrian President Bashar Assad to enter the country’s
airspace.
Meanwhile,
Russia has been conducting its own airstrikes targeting IS and other
terrorist groups in Syria since September 30. The strikes were
launched at the formal request of Damascus. Russian jets have been
carrying out sorties from Moscow’s Hmeimim Air Base in Latakia.
The
Russian-led operation also involves coordinating its efforts with
regional governments, including those of Syria, Iran and Iraq, which
is known as the RSII coalition.
Russia
has been calling for a global coalition to fight IS. Russian
President Vladimir Putin said in November he wanted global
cooperation to combat terrorism. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev has echoed Putin’s words, stressing that countries with
large Muslim populations, Russia among them, should team up against
the terrorist groups.
Meanwhile,
a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Yemen as part of a campaign
against the Houthi rebels that ousted president Abd Rabbuh Mansur
Hadi. The latest statement from the coalition said a ceasefire is due
to be established on Tuesday. “The
command of the coalition forces announces a ceasefire as of 12 pm
Sanaa time ... while retaining the right to respond to any breach of
the ceasefire,” the
Saudi state news agency SPA quoted.
Saudi
Arabia has been carrying out assaults on the Houthis, who continue to
hold the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The conflict has created an
emergency situation, with UN agencies raising alarms that millions of
Yemenis are in mortal danger of starvation. Nearly 6,000 people have
been killed in the Saudi-led airstrikes and fighting.
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