Saudi Arabia is ready to send ground forces in Syria to fight Islamic State members 10502161

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Defence & Security News - Saudi Arabia
 
Saudi Arabia is ready to send ground forces in Syria to fight Islamic State members.
A Saudi military spokesman said Thursday, February 4, 2016, Saudi Arabia is ready to send ground troops to Syria to fight Islamic State members, if the U.S.-led coalition agrees to such an operation. According the newspaper Guardian, thousands of Saudi special forces could be deployed, probably in coordination with Turkey.
     
A Saudi military spokesman said Thursday, February 4, 2016, Saudi Arabia is ready to send ground troops to Syria to fight Islamic State members, if the U.S.-led coalition agrees to such an operation. According the newspaper Guardian, thousands of Saudi special forces could be deployed, probably in coordination with Turkey. Royal Saudi Land Force FNSS M113A300 APCs at military parade in Kuwait.
     
The spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s military said on Thursday the kingdom was ready to join any ground operation in Syria if required by the U.S.-led coalition.

"The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition (against Islamic State) may agree to carry out in Syria," said military spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri during an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel.

In December 2015, 34 Muslim nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” to fight terrorism with a joint operations centre based in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh.

The new counterterrorism coalition includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations that have suffered militant attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first Arab countries to join the anti-Isis coalition in September 2014 and mounted several air strikes on targets in Syria. Saudi Arabia is also involved in Yemen's civil war, where it is fighting Iranian-backed rebels.

On 19 September 2014, the French Air Force used its Rafale jets to conduct airstrikes on ISIL targets in Mosul. The airstrikes were approved by French President François Hollande, which indicated that France was committed to fighting ISIL using air power alongside the United States

On 11 September 2015, a Syrian military source made mention of Russian troops present in Syria to help the Syrian government in its fight against ISIL (Daesh), as part of Operation Rescue. On 17 September, Syrian warplanes carried out a wave of airstrikes in the ISIL-held city of Raqqa with Russian weapons supplied by Russian Armed Forces

Saudi Arabia land force has a total of 175,000 active troops. The combat strength of the Saudi Army consists of 3 armoured brigades, 5 mechanized infantry brigades, three light motorized rifle brigades, and one airborne brigade. It also has five independent artillery battalions and an aviation command.

Saudi Arabia has a total of around 1,050 main battle tanks including M1A2 Abrams, M60A3 and French AMX-30.