Saudi Arabia building 'great wall' to thwart IS

Kingdom constructing 1000-km wall along northern border with Iraq in effort to thwart IS threats, The Telegraph reports.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabi (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabi
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Islamic State lists the capture of Saudi Arabia, home to the holy Muslim grounds of Mecca and Medina, as a key goal.
Just over a week ago, IS militants launched an attack on a Saudi border post, killing a senior Saudi general and two border guards, marking the first direct IS assault on Saudi grounds, The Telegraph reported.
 
In an effort to defend itself from the IS threat and further attacks, the kingdom launched a massive project to construct a "Great Wall" along it's northern border with Iraq, where IS presence is heavy.
Proposed in 2006, the border zone entails five layers of fencing, supplemented by watch towers, radar cameras, night-vision security, and a heavy presence of extra Saudi troops, according to the report.
The wall is set to extend nearly 1000-km and will combine fence and ditch barriers along the northern Saudi border.
Riyadh hopes that the completed project will fend off IS threats and keep the relatively closed kingdom, closed indeed.