M’sia not joining military ops - Hishamuddin

Exercise Northern Thunder. Source: Internet

Malaysia will not take part in military operations should Saudi Arabia decide to go on a large-scale war against the Islamic State.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in saying this, added that Malaysian armed forces personnel based in Riyadh were not involved in “offensive action”.

“They are not designed and not trained to go on the offensive.

“Also, they do not have the required assets. Their main role there is to ensure that the aircraft are serviceable and safe to be used by peacekeeping missions,” he said in reply to Tian Chua (PKR-Batu).

He denied that two Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 aircraft, and about 31 officers and 56 other personnel in Riyadh had been involved in recent military campaigns in Yemen.

Hishammuddin explained that the team had actually gone for a joint training exercise on the invitation of the Saudi government.

“This is the first time the Malaysian army was invited to join such an exercise, and it was a golden opportunity to improve their skills and share knowledge with about 19 other countries involved,” he said, adding that the exercise, conducted between Feb 16 and March 10, was in the Hafar Al Batin and Tabuk training grounds in the northern region.

He said Yemen was closer to the southern region border.

On the situation in Yemen, Hishammuddin noted that there were no positive signs for peace just yet. There were 398 Malaysians in Yemen as of last month, he added.

“The Malaysian government is consistent in its stand that Malaysia supports all efforts to prevent militant activities, but our army was not involved in any military operation in Yemen,” he said. (The Star)