Editing Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia (section)

==Major military operations==
===Grand Mosque seizure===
In 1979, Islamic extremists took control of the Grand Mosque in [[Mecca]]. The extremists were led by Juhayman Al Otaiba and held many worshippers hostage for weeks.

With the help of Pakistani and Western troops, the Saudi military captured the terrorists inside the Grand Mosque.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50852379|title = Mecca 1979: The mosque siege that changed the course of Saudi history|work = BBC News|date = 27 December 2019|access-date = 11 July 2020|archive-date = 17 July 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200717111926/https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50852379|url-status = live}}</ref>

===Gulf War===
[[File:DesertStormMap v2.svg|thumb|350px|Desert Storm, the 1991 liberation of [[Kuwait]] and military invasion of [[Iraq]], was launched from Saudi Arabian territory and Saudi Arabian forces participated in the operation]]
When [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] invaded Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor [[Kuwait]] in 1990, [[Saudi Arabia]] immediately requested the deployment of U.S. troops within the country to deter further aggression. Saudi forces participated in the subsequent [[Persian Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]]: Saudi pilots flew more than 7,000 sorties and Saudi troops took part in the [[Battle of Khafji|battles around the Saudi town of Ras al-Khafji]].<ref name="Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: Saudi Arabia History">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525348/Saudi-Arabia/214601/History?anchor=ref484613|title=Saudi Arabia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=25 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219020050/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525348/Saudi-Arabia/214601/History?anchor=ref484613|archive-date=19 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Operation Southern Watch===
{{main|Operation Southern Watch}}
Since the [[Gulf War]], the United States stationed 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia, a figure that rose to 10,000 during the [[Iraq War|2003 conflict in Iraq]].<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm |title=US pulls out of Saudi Arabia |access-date=29 November 2009 |work=BBC News|date=29 April 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106000947/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm |archive-date=6 January 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref>
Operation Southern Watch enforced the [[Iraqi no-fly zones|no-fly zones]] over southern Iraq set up after 1991, as well, the country's oil exports through the shipping lanes of the [[Persian Gulf]] are protected by the [[United States Fifth Fleet]] based in [[Bahrain]]. It was conducted by [[Joint Task Force Southwest Asia]] (JTF-SWA) with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of the [[32nd parallel north|32nd Parallel]] (extended to the [[33rd parallel north|33rd Parallel]] in 1996) in [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]], following the 1991 [[Persian Gulf War]] until the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].

This was one of the stated motivations behind the [[September 11 attacks]],<ref name="bbc"/> as well as the [[Khobar Towers bombing]].<ref>Plotz, David (2001) [http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=115404 "What Does Osama Bin Laden Want?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112204455/http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=115404 |date=12 November 2007 }}, ''Slate''</ref> Bin Laden interpreted the Islamic prophet, [[Muhammad]] as banning the "permanent presence of infidels in Arabia".<ref name="holywar-p3">{{cite book|last=Bergen|first=Peter L. |title=Holy War Inc. |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2001 |page=3}}</ref>

===Houthi insurgency in Yemen===
{{main|Houthi–Saudi Arabian conflict|Operation Scorched Earth|Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen}}
On 5 November 2009, the [[Royal Saudi Land Forces]] launched a sweeping ground offensive against Yemen's Shiite [[Houthi]] rebels after they crossed the Saudi border to outflank the Yemeni Army, which had launched a [[Operation Scorched Earth|military campaign]] [[Houthi insurgency in Yemen|against the Houthis]] to control and pacify the northern Yemeni mountains, and killed two Saudi border guards. The Saudi forces relied heavily on air power and artillery to soften the rebels without risking their men. The Saudi Army lost 133 soldiers in the fighting against the rebels, with most of the casualties occurring when ground forces tried to move into areas that had been softened by shelling that "raised alarms across the [[Sunni Arab]] world about the possibility that [[Iran]] might be supporting the Yemeni rebels".<ref name=worth>{{cite news|author1=Robert F. Worth|title=Saudi Border With Yemen Is Still Inviting for Al Qaeda|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|date=26 October 2010|access-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724015945/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=24 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>