GCC Sets Up Forward Military HQ in Kuwait as Threats Mount

(MENAFN) Defense ministers from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states on Tuesday approved a forward headquarters for the bloc’s Unified Military Command in Kuwait and agreed to station forces there, a significant step toward tighter joint defense.

GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said the Joint Defense Council endorsed the move at its 23rd session in Manama, according to a bloc statement.

Bahrain’s Minister of Defense Affairs, Lt. Gen. Abdullah bin Hassan Al Nuaimi, chaired the session. Defense ministers from the bloc’s five other member states took part.

The talks took place against a backdrop of escalating regional instability: Houthi missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, fears of a renewed US-Iran military confrontation, and ongoing disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Albudaiwi emphasized that GCC leaders place great weight on military cooperation and on the role of their armed forces in protecting regional security, stability and sovereignty.

He said the agenda also covered several major decisions meant to broaden military cooperation and deepen defense integration among members, but he gave no further details.

The Unified Military Command, based in Riyadh, was created to coordinate joint operations and strengthen defense ties among member states.

Tuesday’s decision follows an Oct. 29 meeting of the bloc’s armed forces chiefs of staff in Manama, where military leaders discussed closer defense coordination in response to regional security challenges.

Founded in 1981, the GCC groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, with the aim of promoting political, economic and security cooperation.

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