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Intel: Pentagon looks to continue Saudi air force training despite shooting

The Pentagon awarded a $15 million contract to a Virginia-based company to provide English-language training to Saudi Arabia’s air force at an air base in Riyadh, just hours after a Saudi national killed three people at a naval installation in Florida on Thursday.
Traffic on and off base is restricted after a member of the Saudi Air Force visiting the United States for military training was the suspect in a shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, in Pensacola, Florida, U.S. December 6, 2019.  REUTERS/Michael Spooneybarger - RC2ZPD90RRD7

The Pentagon awarded a $15 million contract to a Virginia-based company to provide English-language training to Saudi Arabia’s air force at an air base in Riyadh, just hours after a Saudi national killed three people at a naval installation in Florida on Thursday.

The move is the latest effort from the Pentagon to temper blowback from the shooting on the robust US military relationship with Riyadh, as the United States reportedly looks to deploy thousands more American troops to the kingdom to counter Iran (though the Defense Department has refuted these stories at least five times in the past week).

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