His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, on Monday attended a JAF celebration at the 3rd Princess Basma Mechanised Battalion to mark his 56th birthday.

King Abdullah was received by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat, Commander of the Eastern Military Zone Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bani Yassin, and the leader of the 3rd Princess Basma Mechanised Battalion upon arriving at the location of the celebration.

His Majesty was shown the weapons and equipment used by the Battalion, some of which have been manufactured at the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau.

The King also inspected a tactical operations centre at the company level, equipped with various communications and tactical devices, and conducted a video call with a JAF unit near the eastern front.

In the call, His Majesty checked on Border Guards personnel, who expressed their best wishes to him on the occasion of his birthday.

The King also attended a tactical drill conducted at the company and the rapid response platoon level.

The ceremony featured a salute to the Battalion’s martyrs, poetry recitation, and a tug of war exercise.

A number of royal family members, directors of security agencies, chiefs of staff at the JAF General Command, senior army officers, and personnel from the Eastern Military Zone attended Monday’s ceremony.

Founded on 15 February 1942, the 3rd Princess Basma Mechanised Battalion is one of the JAF’s oldest battalions.

It was the third battalion formed as part of the Arab Army, and it fought in the Sheikh Jarrah battles in Jerusalem and the war of attrition.

Sixty-seven of its personnel were martyred while defending the homeland and the nation.