Saudi Promotes for Ground Invasion in Syria: US In...

Local Editor

Saudi Arabia acknowledged that the US-led anti-"ISIS" coalition held a "political" discussion about a potential ground troop deployment in Syria. However, Riyadh's statements was criticized by Damascus as destructive and a threat to regional security.

In this context, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Assiri confirmed that "defense" ministers from the coalition against "ISIS" debated placing ground troops on the ground in Syria during a ministerial meeting in Brussels last month.

The issue "was discussed two weeks ago in Brussels," Assiri said, clarifying that the discussions took place on the "political" level only without going into details of a potential "military mission."

He further stressed that if the decision is made, Saudis would be more than willing to contribute troops - a move that Syria strongly warned against on a number of occasions. Moreover, Assiri acknowledged that Riyadh has been working on the military implementation of a possible Syria invasion.

The Saudi general stressed that for the time being, the Kingdom's air force is ready to strike "ISIS" targets from Turkey's Incirlik air base, where four Saudi fighter jets were deployed last month.

Relatively, Washington also confirmed Saudi Arabia's' willingness to strike targets in Syria, with State Department spokesman John Kirby saying that the US would welcome the Kingdom's participation.

"But there's a lot that needs to be discussed in terms of what they would do, what their makeup would be, how they would need to be supported by the coalition going forward. So there's a lot of homework that needs to be done," Kirby said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's push for ground incursion into Syria comes at a time when Moscow warned that Turkey is strengthening its military positions on the border with Syria in parallel with the US and Russia doing their best to cement a fragile ceasefire in the country.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team