Cairo: A batch of Saudi female conscripts recently attended a training course on combat of drugs and handling of weapons amid a robust empowerment of women in the kingdom.
An online video, released by the Interior Ministry, shows the trainees clad in uniforms while marching in a parade and responding to commands given to them.
The footage also shows the conscripts inside lecture halls being instructed about anti-drug stints, handling arms, field first aid and computing.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia announced allowing women to serve in the army.
Earlier this year, 211 Saudi female conscripts graduated after completing a basic individual training course at a prison facility.
On a separate occasion, 255 other Saudi women graduated from an army training institute for women, groomed for being members of Special Forces in diplomatic and Hajj pilgrimage security.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has vigorously pursued a drive to empower women in different walks of life as part of massive changes in the kingdom. Women accounted for 37 per cent of the kingdom’s overall labour market last year, according to official figures.
In 2018, the kingdom allowed women to drive for the first time in its history, ending a decades-old ban on female driving.
In another move enhancing women’s empowerment, Saudi Arabia allowed women to travel without a male guard’s approval and to apply for a passport, easing long-time controls on them.
Two female ambassadors were among 11 Saudi envoys, who took the oath of office before King Salman bin Abdulaziz in January.
