Bahrain Mirror: The Qatari force participating in the joint Peninsula Shield drill (10) arrived at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the Qatari Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said that the joint Gulf exercises aim to further unify the military strategic concepts and plans, and increase coherence and synergy between the participating forces. The force was received by head of the reception committee Brigadier General Nasser Ibrahim Al Salem.

Brigadier General Khamis Mohammed Dablan, Commander of the Qatari force, said that this exercise supports the bonds of cooperation and relations between the GCC countries, highlights synergy in the military field and keeps abreast of the development to face challenges and dangers of various kinds.

The exercise began on Wednesday and will continue until 12 March.

Two years after the Gulf crisis, there seems to be no solution in the horizon, and the land, air and sea blocked imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies, such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, is still in force, but without a strong impact on the country's economy.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen severed their diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting "terrorism", particularly by financing extremist Islamist groups and approaching Iran, Saudi Arabia's main opponent in the region. Qatar, however, denied these accusations. 

Arabic Version