Saudi Arabia king sack chief of staff in major military shake-up

Saudi King Salman has sacked the military chief of staff and a host of other commanders in a major shake-up, state media said Monday citing a series of royal decrees.

"Termination of the services of General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan, Chief of Staff," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said, adding that Fayyad al-Ruwaili had been appointed as his replacement.

The monarch also replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defenses.
No official reason was given for the changes, but they come as the kingdom's bloody conflict with Yemen's Houthi rebels nears the end of its third year.

Several new deputies in economic and security-related ministries as well as a handful of new city mayors were appointed, including Tamadur bint Youssef al-Ramah as deputy labor minister, a rare senior post for a woman in the deeply conservative kingdom.