Armed forces from around 20 countries were gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for "the most important" military maneuver ever staged in the region, AFP reports.
The "Thunder of the North" exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a "clear message" that Riyadh and its allies "stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region", the official Saudi news agency SPA said.
Sunday's announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the US-led coalition targeting ISIS, said it has deployed warplanes to a Turkish air base in order to "intensify" its operations against ISIS in Syria.
SPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last.
However, the agency called it the "most important and largest in the region's history" in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used.
Twenty countries will be taking take part, SPA said.
Among them are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added.