Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to fight terrorism, NBC News reported.
The long list of countries include Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates. Islamic countries Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan were also mentioned. But Iran — Saudi Arabia’s rival for influence in the Arab world — was absent from the list, according to Reuters.
The announcement, which was made via a joint statement published on Saudi state news agency SPA, cited the need to protect the “Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organizations.”
The United States has been pushing for Gulf Arab states to do more to help the military mission against ISIS.
