Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday the creation of a 34-state anti-terrorism alliance with a joint operations center located in the kindgom's capital city of Riyadh.
The announcement states that the alliance was formed because Islam forbids "corruption and destruction in the world" and that terrorism constitutes "a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security." As such, terrorism "should be fought by all means and collaboration should be made to eliminate it."
The Saudi-led "Islamic military alliance" includes nations that already possess large armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, reported FOX News. It also includes countries with embattled militaries like Libya and Yemen, and African nations that frequently suffer militant attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria.
The remaining countries participating in the alliance are Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritania and Niger.
Together the countries will share information and train, equip and provide forces when deemed necessary in the fight against ISIS, reported Al Arabiya. It will also work alongside major powers like U.S. and Russia to battle militants when needed.
"Nothing is off the table," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday. "It depends on the requests that come, it depends on the need and it depends on the willingness of countries to provide the support necessary."
This move has been welcomed by the United States, which has become increasingly vocal about the need for countries in the region to join forces in order to effectively combat terrorism, according to Reuters.
Four notable countries that are absent from the alliance are Iran, Iraq, Syria and Oman. Iran continues to engage in proxy conflicts against Saudi Arabia in Syria and Yemen, and thus, since Iraq and Syria are allied to Iran, the two also aren't participants. On the other hand, Oman is maintaining its neutral role as it has done in recent years, opting to serve as a mediator in regional conflicts.
