Saudi military leaders replaced amid stalemated war in Yemen

Prince Mohammed

Saudi Arabia has replaced top military commanders, including its chief of staff, in the latest move to bring fresh blood into the kingdom's upper ranks.

The changes, announced in a string of royal decrees last night, come a month before the third anniversary of a Saudi-led military intervention in the Yemen war, which has killed thousands and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Since King Salman named his son, Prince Mohammed, as heir to the throne, the kingdom has witnessed a string of reform, launched at breakneck speed and aimed at moving Saudi Arabia away from its economic dependence on oil.

The monarch yesterday replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defences as well as several deputy ministers, and in a rare move named a woman to the government.

"Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan, Chief of Staff," the official Saudi Press Agency announced, adding that Fayyad al-Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement. No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul.

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