Saudi Arabia Builds Giant Fence on Iraq Border Amid Growing Isis Threat

Saudi Arabia has begun the construction of a security fence on the border with Iraq to prevent "infiltrators and smugglers" from entering the country, according to state media.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that the fence is set to cover 900km (560 miles) of Saudi Arabia's northern border.

King Abdullah said the reason behind its creation was to reduce the "number of infiltrators, drug, arms and cattle smugglers to zero" rather than as a response to the growing threat of Isis, (now known as the Islamic State) in Iraq.

But the barrier is situated along the shared Saudi-Iraqi border and will see the introduction of eight command and control centres, 32 rapid response centres, 78 monitoring towers, 50 radars, 10 surveillance vehicles and 1,450km of fibre-optic networks.

The Gulf state had already stationed approximately 30,000 troops on its 800km (497 miles) border when IS launched its offensive on the Sunni towns and cities of northern Iraq.

The terror group views monarchy as illegal and the Saudi elite see the group as a growing security threat to their vast oil wealth.

The country has been accused of financing extremist groups and aiding the spread of the extremist Salafist ideology upon which the terror group is built.

Saudi Arabia already has a 1,800km (1,118 mile) fence along the border with Yemen and plans to surround the entire country with a security fence.