UK to send troops to fight terrorism in Jordan

Britain will send military personnel to Jordan to fight against Daesh, UK Prime Minister Theresa May will announce during a three day trip to the Middle East, which begins today.

May will set out measures to boost cooperation between the UK and Jordan to tackle extremism before flying to Saudi Arabia to strengthen trade and security ties as Britain prepares to leave the EU.

Image of UK Prime Minister Theresa May [Facebook]

To tackle the threats we face from terrorism and from geopolitical instability, we must meet them at their source.

Training will be carried out by British troop in Jordan to help the country’s air force improve its capability to strike Daesh targets.

It’s believed that May will use the recent Daesh-claimed terror attack that killed four and injured dozens in London to bolster military cooperation with Jordan and other allies in Middle East.

But the trip, reported the Independent, was accompanied by an embarrassing announcement from the Metropolitan Police that its war crimes unit is considering an investigation into Saudi activities in Yemen.

Read: US, UK slammed for arms sales to Saudi

Saudi Arabia is the UK’s largest trading partner in the Middle East with goods and services exports totalling £6.6 billion in 2015.

Britain supports and has helped arm the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

The government has been criticised for its involvement with Saudi Arabia due to the deaths of thousands of civilians and a famine in which 17 million people are food insecure, according to the World Food Programme.

Critics stress that May’s visit to Saudi will reopen thorny questions over the UK’s complicity in human rights violations in Yemen.