The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the leaders of Arab and Islamic countries that participated in the “North Thunder” exercise watched a large military parade that concluded the exercise in King Khalid Military City in Hafr Al-Batin, northern Saudi Arabia.

At the end of the manoeuvres, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques wrote on his Twitter account that “We are proud of our solidarity, and that the world is watching all of our determination to deter the forces of evil and extremism and fight terrorism”.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s statement came after Saudi Arabia’s success in incorporating Islamic military doctrines into one doctrine. The incorporation of eastern and western armament schools represents a huge success and is the first fruit in the process of joint Islamic action.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques met the US Secretary of State John Kerry on the side lines of the concluding parade at the King Khalid Military City and the two sides discussed developments in the region and efforts directed at them. They also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

At the end of the large military exercise in which 20 Arab and Islamic states participated, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, leaders and those present attended a display depicting two warships clashing in the air, as well as other models of the air forces of countries participating in the exercise. Air shows performed by the flight demonstration teams of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Hawks), the UAE (Al Fursan) and Pakistan (Sherdils) concluded the exercise.

A display of various models of tanks, artillery, rocket launchers and the Engineers’ weapons, the Patriot missile air-defence system, other missile systems and other air defence systems that are ready to counter any air threats also took place. Transport vehicles, marine and communications units and armoured vehicles were also displayed.

The military parades of countries participating in the exercise continued with symbolic units that included tanks, guns, anti-aircraft weapons and military infantries. Ambulance, medical and field hospital crews also participated and everyone also watched displays by elite paratroopers who carried the flags of participating countries. The Airforce models of a number of countries participating in the “North Thunder” exercise were also displayed and a group of jet planes put on a show in the form of an air block made up of defence, attacker and refuelling aircraft.