RIYADH — The joint Saudi-US exercise (Prevention Shield-3) concluded on Wednesday in the Fifth Air Defense Group in the Eastern Province in the presence of Eastern Region Commander Major General Saeed bin Abdulrahman Abu Assaf.

The drill started several days ago as part of the joint exercise plan between the two friendly countries with the aim of training and planning for crisis management resulting from weapons of mass destruction.

The closing ceremony witnessed the participation of the US forces, the Saudi armed forces, and the General Administration of Health Services at the Ministry of Defense, with the support of several government agencies including the Ministry of Health, Civil Defense, and the Saudi Red Crescent.

Major General Abu Assaf valued the participation of friendly US forces, while expressing his appreciation to all participants of the exercise for their distinguished efforts in achieving its planned objectives.

For his part, the general supervisor of the exercise, commander of the Fifth Air Defense Group, Major General Khaled bin Saeed Abu Qais, said the "Prevention Shield 3" exercise included several seminars and lectures on protection from weapons of mass destruction, training commanders and personnel on planning to manage this type of crisis, managing operations centers, joint workshops, in addition to implementing several hypotheses for training on how to have an immediate and effective response against weapons of mass destruction.

He said the exercise was successfully executed and achieved its goals. — SPA