King attends conclusion of joint military drill in Saudi Arabia

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Friday attended the conclusion of the joint military exercise "Thunder of the North" in the Gulf kingdom, along with other Arab and Muslim leaders.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Kuwaiti Emir Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also attended the conclusion of the drill.

His Majesty, who returned home later on Friday, also attended a lunch banquet that King Salman held for the attending leaders and delegations, and performed Friday prayer at the Hospitality Mosque in the King Khalid Military City, a Royal Court statement said. 

Twenty countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Sudan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait participated in the exercise, which started last month in the area of Hafar Al Batin, in northern Saudi Arabia.

The drill aimed at training the participating forces on joint strategic operations, unifying concepts and carrying out conventional and unconventional military operations against terror and radicalism, the statement said.    

In December 2015, Saudi Arabia established an "anti-terrorism" Islamic coalition consisting of 34 Arab, African and Asian countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan.