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US and Qatari special operations units conduct strike on mock terrorist cell
Stars and Stripes
March 29, 2019
A MH-60 helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment transports role players from the battlefield during Invincible Sentry 2019 near Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, March 22. Invincible Sentry is an annual training exercise used by United States Central Command to validate subordinate units and their abilities to respond to crises in the region. (Madalene Hashagen/U.S. Army)
A MH-60 helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment transports role players from the battlefield during Invincible Sentry 2019 near Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, March 22. Invincible Sentry is an annual training exercise used by United States Central Command to validate subordinate units and their abilities to respond to crises in the region. (Madalene Hashagen/U.S. Army)
A United States Air Force Para rescue Airman attached to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and a Qatar Joint Special Forces Soldier discuss the way ahead during an Invincible Sentry 2019 training scenario near Zekreet, Qatar, March 24. (Brandon McIntosh/U.S. Army)
A sniper and spotter from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) watch their sector of fire and report enemy activity as part of reconnoiter operations at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on March 22, in Doha, Qatar. (Brandon McIntosh/U.S. Army)
Members of a United States Army Special Forces team assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) finish loading a MH-60 helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment during an Invincible Sentry 2019 training scenario near the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, March 22. IS 19 is a combined exercise used by U.S. Central Command to validate its subordinate unit?s abilities to respond to crises in the region. (Brandon McIntosh/U.S. Army)
Qatar Joint Special Forces soldiers secure detainees before moving them off of the battlefield during an Invincible Sentry 2019 training scenario near Zekreet, Qatar, on Sunday, March 24, 2019. The exercise was aimed at sharpening the ability of the Qatari forces to interoperate with their U.S. counterparts. (U.S. Army/Keith Freeland)
Qatar Joint Special Forces soldiers move detaineesduring a simulated raid on a terrorist network on Sunday, March 24, 2019, as part of the weeklong exercise Invincible Sentry 2019. The exercise was aimed at sharpening the ability of the Qatari forces to work with their U.S. counterparts. U.S. Army photo (U.S. Army photo)
U.S. Special Forces troops completed a joint crisis response exercise with their Qatari counterparts this week, including a simulated strike on a terrorist network in the Persian Gulf country, which is home to U.S. Central Command’s forward headquarters facility and Combined Air Operations Center.
About 200 U.S. troops and 400 Qatari Joint Special Forces and Internal Security Forces took part in the weeklong exercise Invincible Sentry 2019, Special Operations Command Central said in a statement.
The bilateral exercise, which took place at military training areas and remote locations throughout Qatar, involved scenarios in which Qatari officials requested assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Doha in response to a transnational security threat.
The goal for the exercise, one of 80 that CENTCOM conducts with regional partners each year, is to increase awareness of the special operations capabilities of the United States and its allies and to improve their ability to work together, the military said.
“What we (Green Berets) bring to the fight, by doing everything with and through our partners, is a capability that far outweighs our small teams,” said a Special Forces commander quoted in the statement. “We’d like to think some conflicts will never come to fruition because of our persistent engagement at key locations around the world.”
Working side-by-side, U.S. and Qatari special operations units carried out a combined strike on a simulated terrorist network as part of this year’s exercise. Moving through a town, the two forces infiltrated their objective and took down the terrorists, the statement said.
Under an agreement signed in 1992, Qatar hosts up to 10,000 U.S. forces personnel at its military facilities, including Al Udeid Air Base, a Congressional Research Service report said in 2017.
The country has also supported U.S. and coalition military operations in the region, to include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the anti-Islamic State fight in Iraq and Syria. Doha has also recently hosted several rounds of peace talks between U.S. and Taliban representatives aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, now in its 18th year.