KABUL - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Salahuddin Rabbani met with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Kabul Abdulrahman Al- Ghaseb where Afghanistan was officially invited to join the recently formed 34-state Islamic military coalition.

In the meeting, Al-Ghaseb invited Afghanistan to join the coalition to combat terrorism that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has formed it with 34 other Islamic countries.

In return, Rabbani said that the invitation to Afghanistan to join this coalition had been discussed in a recent telephone call between high-level authorities of Afghanistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement issued by foreign affairs, Rabbani said: "Afghanistan will assess the issue comprehensively and adopt its decision in this regard in the near future."

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced the formation of the 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, including insurgency in Afghanistan.

A long list of Arab countries such as Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, together with Islamic countries Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Gulf Arab and African states were mentioned.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's arch rival for influence in the Arab world, was absent from the states named as participants, as proxy conflicts between the two regional powers rage from Syria to Yemen.

The United States has been increasingly outspoken about its view that Gulf Arab states should do more to aid the military campaign against Daesh based in Iraq and Syria.

In a rare news conference, 30-year-old crown prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman told reporters on Tuesday that the campaign would "coordinate" efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan, but offered few concrete indications of how military efforts might proceed.

"I understand you have seen a statement that announces the alliance between a number of Islamic countries to fight against terrorism and this comes from the Islamic world's vigilance in fighting this disease (Islamic extremism) which has damaged the Islamic world, even before the international community as a whole. There shall be an operations room in Riyadh for the coordination and support of efforts to fight terrorism in many parts of the Islamic world. This announcement comes from the Islamic worlds vigilance in fighting this disease so it can be a partner, as a group of countries, in the fight against this disease," said bin Salman.

Asked if the new alliance would focus just on Daesh, bin Salman said it would confront not only that group but "any terrorist organization that appears in front of us." (Tolonews)