Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates troops sent to Bahrain to protect critical facilities 1403114

Posted On
a
Defense News - Bahrain
 

Monday, March 14, 2011, 7:28 PM
 

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates troops sent to Bahrain to protect critical facilities.
 
 
Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates crossed into Bahrain on Monday March 14, 2011, under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperation Council to help quell unrest there, a move Bahraini opposition groups denounced in a statement as an “occupation.”
     
Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates crossed into Bahrain on Monday March 14, 2011, under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperation Council to help quell unrest there, a move Bahraini opposition groups denounced in a statement as an “occupation.”
Saoudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates troops as Gulf Cooperation Council GCC in Bahrain
     

The troop movement was confirmed by the state-run Bahrain News Agency.

Witnesses said a convoy of 150 armored troop carriers and about 50 other lightly armed vehicles crossed the bridge linking Saudi Arabia to the tiny island kingdom, and a Saudi security official told The Associate Press that the troops were there to protect critical buildings and installations like oil facilities. However, witnesses later said that the convoy seemed to be heading for Riffa, a Sunni area that is home to the royal family and a military hospital that is closed to the public, Reuters reported.

The opposition statement said it considered the arrival of any soldier or military vehicle “an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain.”