Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced, in a surprising move, that an Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism was formed on Dec. 14. He mentioned Syria and Iraq at the top of the list of countries where the coalition aspires to combat terrorism.
On the same day, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir explained in a press statement that the coalition’s mission is to share information, and train and equip the forces for the fight against the Islamic State (IS). In regard to the possibility of sending troops to countries dealing with terrorism, he said that the coalition will discuss this, and that it depends on “needs” and “requests.”