Chief of the General Staff of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Lieutenant-General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili received in Riyadh Tuesday the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt Lieutenant General Osama Askar.

An official reception ceremony was held for the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The two sides held a session of talks in which they discussed the defense and military cooperation relations as well as the strategic relations between the two brotherly countries. They also discussed a number of issues of common interest.

The session was attended by a number of Officers of the Saudi and Egyptian Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, the Mixed Bilateral Naval Exercise (Bridge 23) between the Royal Saudi Naval Forces represented by the “Eastern Fleet” and the Royal Bahraini Navy Forces, Kicked off in Bahrain on Sunday.

Commander of the Royal Bahraini Navy, Rear Admiral Mohammed Yousef Al-Asam, and the Military Attaché at the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain, Brigadier General Fahad bin Ibrahim Al-Thunayan, as well as Senior Officers attended the exercise.

Marine Colonel Ahmed bin Abdulrahman Al-Osaimi, Director of the exercise, said that the “Bridge 23” exercise aims to raise the level of combat readiness of the participating units, standardize tactical concepts and implement joint operations, in addition to applying procedures for managing naval battles, command and control, and raising the efficiency of applying all forms of communication procedures.

He added that the exercise is an extension of the “Bridge” series of exercises that are carried out periodically between the two countries, to enhance security cooperation and coordination, secure regional waters, and unify concepts and joint action.