AMMAN: More than 15,000 soldiers from 18 different countries will take part in a joint military exercise in Jordan in the coming weeks, a military official said yesterday. Jordan’s armed forces will host the exercise, “Eager Lion 2013”, with troops from “friendly countries”, including the United States, taking part, the official Petra news agency cited the official as saying.
They will participate in battlefield, logistics and humanitarian exercises alongside troops from Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen he added.
The official did not say when the manoeuvres were due to begin but said they would run for two weeks and would follow last year’s “successful” operation. Jordan is a major beneficiary of US military and economic aid, with Washington granting $2.4bn (¤1.85bn) in the past five years, according to official figures.
Saudi official websites attacked
RIYADH: Cyber hackers attacked several official Saudi websites yesterday, posting an Algerian flag on their homepages that later vanished, local media reported. The website of the information ministry was among the hacked sites, according to state news broadcaster Al Ekhbariya and newspapers.
The websites of Al-Ekhbariya itself, along with sports channel Al Riyadiyah, Channel One and Quran Radio, as well as King Fahd Cultural Centre, were all hacked. No one claimed responsibility for the electronic raid, while those websites went down. Earlier this month, the website of the Saudi interior ministry was among several official websites that came under hacking attacks.
Bomb attacks kill 10 in Iraq
BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb attack on an Iraqi army convoy and a car bomb targeting Iranian pilgrims killed 10 people and wounded 19 yesterday, security officers and doctors said.
Iraq is struggling to contain a wave of violence that has killed more than 430 people so far in May — the second month in a row in which over 400 people died in unrest.
A roadside bomb hit an army convoy near Heet, a town in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, killing five soldiers including a lieutenant colonel, army Brigadier General Haqi Ismail and a doctor said.Agencies
