UK Secretly Deployed British Troops to Defend Saudi Arabian Oil Fields

Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has deployed British troops to defend oil fields in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) without telling the parliament or the public.

Opposition parties accused the government of lacking a "moral compass" and dodging scrutiny, while campaigners said the episode was "symptomatic of the toxic relationship" between the UK government and the oil-rich autocracy.

The Ministry of Defense says the oil fields are "critical economic infrastructure" and that gunners from the 16th Regiment Royal Artillery were needed to help defend against drone strikes.

Incredibly, the military operation, which was launched February in this year, overlapped with a ban on exporting military hardware to the kingdom.

Until July, ministers were blocked by the Court of Appeal from signing-off military exports to Saudi Arabia.

Legal action is ongoing in British courts to reinstate the ban, which ministers discarded in the summer after judging that the 500 alleged war amounted only to "possible" breaches international humanitarian law and "isolated incidents".

A spokesperson for Ministry of Defense told the Independent that following the attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities on 14 September 2019, the ministry has worked with its counterpart in the kingdom and wider international partners to consider how to strengthen the defense of its critical economic infrastructure from aerial threats."

The spokesperson confirmed that the deployment had included an advanced military radar system to help detect drone strikes.

No response was provided to questions why no announcement had been made in the parliament or elsewhere about the deployment of British troops.

Defense Minister James Heappey confirmed in separate written correspondence that "UK defense personnel have accompanied the deployment of Giraffe radars to Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital.

The minister added that the deployment was still "ongoing" as of late November and had so far cost UK taxpayers £840,360.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesperson told The Independent: “The reports- that the Government have secretly been deploying troops to Saudi Arabia- are shocking."