Anti-ISIS coalition debated placing ground troops on the ground in Syria
March 1, 2016
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has held a “political” discussion about a potential ground troop deployment in Syria. Riyadh’s statements have been criticized by Damascus as destructive and a threat to regional security.
In an interview with Reuters, an aide to Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, confirmed that defense ministers from the anti-Islamic State coalition debated placing ground troops on the ground in Syria during a ministerial meeting in Brussels last month.
The general stressed that if the decision is made, Saudis would be more than willing to contribute troops – a move that Syria strongly warned against on a number of occasions. He also acknowledged that Riyadh has been working on the military implementation of a possible Syria invasion.