Bangladesh has joined a new military alliance consisting of 34 mainly Islamic nations to fight terrorism, BBC reported quoting Saudi Arabia’s SPA state media yesterday.
The alliance emerged amid international pressure for Gulf Arab states to do more in the fight against the so-called Islamic State, says the report.
“This comes from the Islamic world’s vigilance in fighting this disease [Islamic extremism] which has damaged the Islamic world,” said Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. “Currently, every Muslim country is fighting terrorism individually ... so coordinating efforts is very important.”
The Saudi minister said the new alliance would coordinate efforts against extremists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan. Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are not in the coalition.
According to the report, a joint operations centre is to be established in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Countries from Asia, Africa and the Arab world have joined the alliance sans Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival.
The 34 members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The SPA state news agency said 10 other “Islamic countries” have expressed support, including Indonesia.
Prince Mohammed said: “These countries have procedures to go through before joining the coalition, but out of keenness to achieve this coalition as soon as possible, [the alliance of] 34 countries has been announced.”
In announcing the coalition, the SPA stated that Islam forbids “corruption and destruction in the world” and that terrorism represents “a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security.”
Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition against the IS and is also leading a military intervention in Yemen against Shia Houthi rebels.
