Arab League Set to Form Joint Military Force - Reports

The Arab League includes most countries from the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Arab foreign ministers agreed on Thursday to form a joint rapid-response military force to tackle security threats to Arab nations, Al Hadath television reported.

"The foreign ministers of Arab countries have agreed a draft resolution to form a joint military force," the TV channel affiliated with Al-Arabiya television said in its twitter blog.

The Arab League currently has a Joint Defense Council, set to coordinate the member states' collective defense under the Joint Defense and Economic Co-operation Treaty of 1950.

The League's next summit is slated for March 28-29, and the situation in Yemen is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion.

Earlier in the week, Saudi Arabia launched a military offensive against Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have seized parts of the country, including the capital, and forced Yemen's elected government to resign.

Several other Arab states, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have vowed to take part in the Saudi campaign against the Yemeni rebels.