Saudi Border Guards General Director Gen. Awad Al-Balawi

:: The General Directorate of the Border Guards on Wednesday will carry out the “Grip Exercise” as part of the First International Symposium on Land and Maritime Borders (Challenges and Solutions) on the Red Sea coast of Jeddah.

Present at the exercise will be Gen. Awad Al-Balawi, general director of the Border Guards; Ali Koman, the secretary-general of the Arab Interior Ministers Council; Kiroja Michi Chini, representative of the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, as well as experts from Gulf, Arab and other countries.

Al-Balawi said that carrying out these quality drills raises the preparedness of the Border Guards to protect land and maritime facilities, and embodies the size of the support which the General Directorate of the Border Guards receives from the King Salman, Crown Prince Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and Interior Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif.

He stressed that the exercise exemplifies the new maritime operational concept of the Border Guards; strengthens island reconnaissance and clearance operational capacities; identifies ways to address intrusion attempts; performs search and rescue operations; deals with targeting a land crossing border by enemy elements; and deals with terrorist attacks targeting vital maritime facilities on a Saudi island — all in order to secure all land and maritime borders of the Kingdom from any dangers.

Al-Balawi pointed that the drills, which will be executed by 45 officers and 294 soldiers from the special anti-maritime terrorism and land and maritime border protection units of the Border Guards, supported by Saudi Security Aviation, aims to enhance measures against land and maritime terrorism and counter any possible sources of threats, as well as to ensure the preparedness of participating forces.

The drills aim also to train participating commanders on mission planning, using military tactics, and carrying out command and control measures.