GCC_army_chiefs
GCC army chiefs Image Credit: ONA

Muscat: Army chiefs in the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) started talks Thursday in Oman, the Omani news agency ONA reported.

The meeting of the bloc’s Higher Military Committee comes amid regional tensions after last month’s attack on Saudi oil installations that Riyadh and Washington blamed on Iran.

Chief of Oman’s army staff Lit.Gen. Ahmad Bin Harith headed the meeting in Muscat, according to the agency.

At the centre of the the talks is the boost of military cooperation among the GCC member countries, Omani newspaper Oman reported without details.

Military staff chiefs from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar were in Oman for the talks. Chief of the unified GCC unified military command Lit. Gen. Eid Bin Awad Al Shalawi was also present.

Qatar is locked in a diplomatic dispute with its Gulf neighbours.

In June 2017, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and trade links with Qatar over its support for extremism.