US and Qatar to expand America’s biggest Mid-East air base at Al Udeid

Expanding and upgrading the biggest US air base in the Middle East at Al Udeid southwest of Doha was agreed Tuesday by acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Qatar Defense Minister Khalid Al Attiyah. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had signed a MoU on this when he visited Doha in January. The base is home to 13,000 US coalition personnel engaged in battling the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq and serves US forces in the Gulf region, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the military base is home to the US Air Force Central Command (AFCENT) and serves as major communications and operational center for the coalition.