‘Gulf Shield 1’ military drills wrap up in Saudi Arabia

By Mohamed Fahd

RIYADH

Month-long military exercises wrapped up Monday in Saudi Arabia’s eastern city of Jubail in the presence of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and the leaders of several countries that took part in the drills.

Dubbed “Joint Gulf Shield 1”, the exercises involved tens of thousands of personnel from the land, sea and air forces of 24 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the U.S., the U.K., Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt and Malaysia.

The last day of the drills on Monday was attended by many of the Arab leaders who had taken part in an Arab Summit one day earlier held in the Saudi city of Dammam.

According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the Gulf Shield exercises -- which kicked off this year on Mar. 18 -- are considered the largest of their kind in the region in terms of troop numbers and participating countries.