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GCC to Establish Unified Military Command HQ in Kuwait
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has decided to establish an advanced headquarters for its Unified Military Command in Kuwait, with plans to station "appropriate" military forces there. The decision was announced by the GCC’s General Secretariat on Tuesday after a meeting of defence ministers from member states in Bahrain. The group said the leaders of the GCC states consistently emphasise the need to strengthen defence coordination to confront present and future challenges and threats.
Details about the headquarters, including the number or type of troops to be deployed, have not yet been disclosed. The GCC, which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, created its Unified Military Command at a summit in Kuwait in December 2013 to oversee joint military operations and enhance collective defence against threats to member states’ territory, airspace, maritime areas and interests.
Most Gulf countries host major U.S. military installations and were targeted in Iranian missile and drone attacks in the weeks after the U.S.–Israel war on Iran began on February 28. The conflict has disrupted air travel and shipping and raised concerns over the security of the region’s vital oil and gas exports. It has also reignited the conflict in Yemen, where fighting between Iran‑aligned Houthis and Saudi‑backed forces has intensified after the collapse in July of a United Nations‑brokered ceasefire that had largely held since 2022. The Houthis have targeted sites across Saudi Arabia, including the capital Riyadh. Last month, an attack by the armed group on the city’s King Khalid International Airport killed 14 people and wounded more than 300 others, the deadliest assault on the kingdom in more than a decade.