Official Sudanese sources have announced that Sudanese military ground forces will participate in the joint Gulf Shield One military training, which included 23 states.

On Monday, the Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) has mentioned that the Sudanese Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf has received an official invitation from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to attend the final presentations of the military trainings.

The Saudi Ambassador to Khartoum, Ali Hasan Jaafar, who handed over the invitation to the Sudanese Minister of Defence, hailed the prodigious role and sacrifices the of Sudanese in Yemen.

The joint Gulf Shield One military training will take place in the eastern area of Saudi Arabia, in conjunction with the Arab Summit which would be held in Riyadh at the beginning of next week and correspond with Yemen’s humanitarian and security worsening conditions.

The Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen, since March 2015, has failed to achieve stability in Yemen and to get the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi back to Sana’a.

The training also coincides with the increasing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which is a strategic ally of Sudan.

The Gulf Shield One manoeuvres are also taking place amid heightened tensions between the Gulf Cooperation Council States and Iran.

The Gulf Shield One date back to October 4, 2016 and are divided into two phases. The first will last for two days. It will be limited to the commanders of the joint Gulf Shield One forces, from all land, sea, air, air defence, and special forces sectors, where simulators will be used and commanders will be trained to manage military operations, in a systematic and non-systematic operations environment, in which the means of command, control and leadership will be tested.

The second phase, which will last for 5 days, will include the use of live ammunition, with the participation of all the participating countries’ forces in the trainings from all sectors. This training phase is aimed at facing the challenges and threats within a joint operational environment to achieve the concept of joint action, in which many developed and advanced weapons will be used.