Arab League Agrees to Create Joint Arab Military Force

• 03.29.2015, 15:16
•  Near East,  World

The leaders of countries in the Arab League agreed to create a joint Arab military force at a summit in Egypt on Sunday, according to media reports.

The League has been meeting in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. It is currently unclear whether the force would be deployed in conflict-hit Yemen, the BBC reported.

A statement calls for the establishment of a voluntary military force that can counter challenges that threaten the safety and security of any member, based on a request from that state, according to Al Arabiya.

The AFP news agency reported that the head of the Arab League would organize the voluntary force with military representatives in the next month.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes have pushed Shiite rebels out of contested air bases in Yemen, the kingdom said.

Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed bin Hasan Asiri said the strikes continued to target Scud missiles in Yemen, leaving most of their launching pads "devastated," the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. On Saturday, he warned that the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, could control more of the missiles, according to the Associated Press.

The Al Arabiya network reported that the strikes, which have entered their fourth day, hit military targets and weapons depots controlled by Houthis in the city of Saada in northern Yemen on Sunday.

t said Houthis were reported to have released 1,800 inmates in the city and tried to release prisoners held in Yemen's central prison and at detention facilities in other parts of the country.

The Pakistani government said it is making arrangements to evacuate its citizens and embassy personnel from Yemen, where it says it has 3,000 nationals.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Pakistani nationals are being taken to safer cities, from where special flights will be arranged to return them to Pakistan.