Training of all Saudi Arabian military personnel in the  United States was stopped until further notice after a Saudi airman shot and killed three people last week at a base in Florida.

The Pentagon’s decision will have far-reaching effects on visiting Saudi personnel, including grounding more than 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students as part of a “safety stand-down”.

The Pentagon later on Tuesday said the move would also affect infantry personnel and all other Saudi military training, other than classroom lessons. Such coursework, which includes English-language classes, will continue.

Mohammed Alshamrani, a 21-year-old lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, opened fire in a classroom at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida on Friday, killing three American sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police.

A senior Pentagon official said the move was intended to allow for a broader review of security procedures that would eventually apply to all of some 5,000 international military students in the US.

The safety stand-down only applied to the some 850 visiting students from Saudi Arabia.

The FBI has said it believes Alshamrani acted alone before he was fatally shot by a deputy sheriff.

“I don’t have any evidence to suggest that there is a larger ring or larger conspiracy,” a military official said.

Source:aljazeera.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Five killed in attacks on foreigners in South Africa

Five people have been killed in xenophobic attacks in South Africa, police said,…

Covid-19: World Leaders Call For International Pandemic Treaty

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in…

Brazil: Political Crisis And Covid Surge Rock Bolsonaro

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro is facing the biggest crisis of his presidency after…

UK Eases Lockdown But Nervously Eyes European Virus Surge

Britain is taking another small step out of lockdown as it looks…