US deploys more F-16 warplanes to major Saudi air base

The United States has deployed more F-16 warplanes to Prince Sultan Air Base, south of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.

According to Press TV, the US Central Command said in a post on its official Arabic-language Twitter account on Tuesday that the fighter jets were deployed to the base last week.

It also published photos showing the aircraft.

According to the tweet, the deployment of the F-16s is aimed at boosting the defense capabilities of the base and support the operations of the US Central Command.

Prince Sultan Air Base is a key US base in Saudi Arabia. It hosts hundreds of US troops.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said on July 14 that a blast struck an unused ammunition dump in an area southeast of Riyadh after videos had shown flames and smoke shooting out of a desert location near the Prince Sultan Air Base.

The Saudi media described the explosion as accidental.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah Movement.

Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees have, however, gone from strength to strength against the invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.