RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili attended an observation day on Friday for the multinational joint exercise EFES 2024 at the conclusion of the participation of units of the armed forces in the event, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said. The occasion was held in the presence of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Al-Ruwaili was attending on behalf of Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. The maneuvers, which concluded on Thursday, were carried out at the Kartal camp in the Turkish city of Izmir, with the participation of forces from a number of countries. The forces carried out a number of combat scenarios and field maneuvers at the conclusion of the exercise. These included close air support operations; shooting with light and medium weapons using live ammunition; search and rescue operations; and confronting drone threats. The armed forces succeeded in achieving their objectives in the exercise, which included training in planning and coordinating joint operations in a different operational environment, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The exercises enhanced military cooperation between the participating countries; improved the ability to manage and implement joint combat missions using various modern weapons; and developed cooperation between participating units to confront non-traditional threats, it added. The observation day was attended by a number of defense ministers and senior military leaders from participating countries, as well as the Kingdom’s ambassador to Turkiye.