The military said on Wednesday that the first Pakistani and Saudi Arabian “Joint Special Forces Exercise AL BATTAR-I” had opened in the Cherat area of the Nowshera district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reports that the two week long exercise includes special troops from both Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The military’s press office noted that the exercise was designed to “further harness the historic military-to-military relations between both the countries, including nurturing of joint employment concept and identifying areas of mutual interest for future military collaboration” in the fight against terrorism.
According to the ISPR, high-ranking representatives from both countries’ armed forces were present for the opening ceremony, which began with the playing of the national anthems.
It went on to say that these military drills are a way for the two countries to strengthen their already close ties and learn from each other’s expertise.
These drills are a regular occurrence between the two friendly countries. Joint exercise “Al-Samsaam-VIII-22” was held in the Pabbi area of K-P in February.
Al-Samsaam-VIII-22, a joint exercise between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has begun in K-P.
According to the ISPR, the joint exercise that lasted for two weeks was part of an ongoing series of bilateral military exercises between the Saudi forces and the Pakistan Army.
Counter-terrorism activities such as cordon and search, combat patrols, and dealing with IEDs will be the primary focus of the combined exercise.
King Khalid Military City Hafar Al-Batin in Saudi Arabia hosted a combined military counter-IED (improvised explosive device) exercise between the two countries in December called Al-Kassah-III.
