The Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT), also known as the Saudi anti-terror bloc, was an alliance of Islamic states led by Saudi Arabia formed on 15 December 2015 to combat the Islamic State and other terrorist groups across the world. It was formed in response to several IS suicide bombings against Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia as well as the wars in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Afghanistan with terrorists.
History[]
The announcement of the bloc by Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud
On 15 December 2015, al-Ekhbariya announced that Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, the Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Yemen formed an anti-terror bloc. The 34-country joint task force was to be centered in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and from there they would fight terrorism from the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups worldwide. Indonesia and a dozen other Islamic countries also voiced their support for the alliance, which made Saudi Arabia a regional power in the Middle East and Islamic World. It was not said to have been military at the start; instead, it claimed that it would use legal instruments to fight against terrorism. However, it developed into a military alliance, and on 10 March 2016 the largest exercise ever held in the Persian Gulf region occurred, with 150,000 troops, 2,540 warplanes, 20,000 tanks, and 460 helicopters taking part in a military exercise near King Khaled Military City.