GCC military completes war games

ABU DHABI // The GCC's joint military force has finished its latest military training, codenamed Islands of Loyalty.

The exercise involved air, ground and naval forces from the nations that make up the Peninsula Shield, formed in 1982.

The state news agency, Wam, said that "successful amphibious operations were staged ... under massive air cover in the war-game exercise".

More than 30,000 troops make up the Shield, which includes personnel from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE.

The exercise, on Sunday and Monday, took place amid a continuing diplomatic row over the recent visit by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the island of Abu Musa.

Iran invaded and occupied Abu Musa, as well as the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, all sovereign UAE territory, in 1971.

The UAE has pledged to use diplomacy and international law to regain control over the islands.

newsdesk@thenational.ae