Saudi-led anti-terror coalition: No decision yet on contributing troops, says Aziz

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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government defended on Monday its decision to join a new counterterrorism front but pointed out that the issue of contributing troops to the 34-nation military alliance cobbled together by Saudi Arabia was as yet undecided.

Apparently, Pakistani foreign ministry officials were caught off guard last week after Riyadh named Pakistan as part of the alliance with one official saying, “We came to know about it through news reports.” A day later, Islamabad confirmed it has joined the coalition but said the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared details.