By Ramazan Turgut

ANKARA

Saudi Arabia on Monday removed several high-ranking army officials and forced its army chief and air force commander into retirement, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to a royal decree, Saudi Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Abdulrahman bin Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Bunyan and Air Force Commander Lt. General Staff Mohammed bin Awadh bin Mansour Suhaim were forced into retirement.

Several officials, including Land Force Commander Lt. General Staff Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the deputy interior minister and the deputy foreign minister were removed from their posts in line with the decree.

The Saudi army also promoted six generals and appointed them to senior posts.