DOHA: The US and Qatar launched a plan Tuesday to expand Al-Udeid airbase, the biggest military facility used by Washington in the Gulf as it battles jihadists, Qatari state media said.

The two countries also discussed making Al-Udeid a “permanent” base, the official QNA news agency said, as Doha seeks to bolster ties with Washington at a time of tensions with its Gulf neighbours.

QNA said representatives from both countries on Tuesday “laid the foundation stone for expanding” Al-Udeid.

The project includes “the construction of barracks and service buildings to support joint security efforts, as well as improving the quality of life of the troops stationed at the airbase,” it said.

Around 10,000 US troops are deployed in Al-Udeid, the largest US base in the Gulf where Washington stocks munitions and equipment and deploys warplanes used in the battle against the Islamic State group.—AFP