Pakistani, Saudi troops hold routine joint exercises

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are holding routine joint military exercises in Saudi Arabia, the army said Monday.
The army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said that the pre- scheduled Pak-Saudi joint exercises "Samsam-5" are being held since March 19 in the Saudi city of Taif.
The spokesman said the exercises are not an operational deployment.
He said a group of 292 Pakistani troops are participating.
The joint exercises is held every year and last year it was held near Jhelum in Pakistan's Punjab province.
The official Saudi Press Agency also reported that the drills are part of a series of pre-planned exercises aimed at enhancing the kingdom's military efficiency.
"The exercise is not related to any current military operations, " the Saudi Press Agency quoted Major General Fares bin Abdullah, a senior Saudi commander, as saying.
Reports about the Saudi and Pakistani forces' exercises came at a time when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have continued air strikes against the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.