MoD Information

Oman Sends Troops to Kuwait

Sun, February 16, 2003

Source: Ananova News

Oman has sent troops to join a regional force to defend Kuwait against possible Iraqi attack.

Oman has sent troops to join a regional force to defend Kuwait against possible Iraqi attack.An official said a battalion had left to join the combined Peninsula Shield force.

The troops are believed to have been dispatched after a request from Kuwait.

On Wednesday, a United Arab Emirates military official said his country would send two warships and a mechanised brigade of several thousand troops backed by Apache attack helicopters and tanks in coming days to defend Kuwait against any Iraqi threats.

Bahrain has also said it would send a frigate and unspecified number of personnel to Kuwait.

Peninsula Shield, stationed at Hafr al-Baten in north eastern Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border, is the combined military force of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Thousands of US troops are also gathering in the region ahead of a possible attack on Iraq.