Saudi Arabia 'Deploys Troops To Iraq Border'

Saudi Arabia has deployed 30,000 troops to its border with Iraq, according to reports.

The move follows the withdrawal of Iraqi soldiers from the area, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV.

Meanwhile, insurgent group ISIS which has taken control of large swathes of northern and western Iraq in recent weeks, has seized a major Syrian oil field on the border.

The extremist organisation, that calls itself Islamic State, reportedly took charge of the Al Omar facility north of Mayadeen after fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front withdrew without a battle and "fled like rats".

ISIS is now in control of most oil and gas fields in the province of Deir Ezzor

The Dubai-based satellite channel Al Arabiya posted a video on its website which it said showed some 2,500 Iraqi soldiers in the desert area east of the Iraqi city of Karbala after they abandoned their posts, leaving the border area with Saudi Arabia and Syria unguarded.

An Iraqi officer in the video said the Iraqi soldiers had been ordered to quit their posts for no apparent reason.

"We received an order to withdraw, we didn't know why," he said.

The authenticity of the recording has not been independently verified.

The world's top oil exporter shares an 800km (500 mile) border with Iraq, where ISIS insurgents and other Sunni Muslim militant groups seized towns and cities in a lightning advance last month.

Saudi's King Abdullah has ordered "all necessary measures" to protect the kingdom against potential "terrorist threats", state news agency SPA reported.

Sky News' Diplomatic Editor Tim Marshall said: "Six days ago, the Saudis put their armed forces on the highest alert.

"And that's because they were getting reports that, along the border between the two countries, the Iraqi army was beginning to drift away, which obviously means that ISIS can advance towards the Saudi border.

"Today, it's become apparent to them (the Saudis) that it's almost unguarded and therefore someone's got to guard it and it's going to be them."

The Iraqi troops appeared to have left the areas in the Sunni-controlled Anbar province because they just thought: "We can't hold this, we're going to die," he said.

"So, let's put it in military terms, they appear to have run away."