Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - In a move that demonstrates the growing threat posed by the Islamic State in the Middle East, the Saudi royal family is building a 600-mile barrier to fortify the northern frontier of their kingdom. The structure, composed of a fence and ditch, is fitted out with radar surveillance towers, command centers and guard posts. The wall is intended to keep militant jihadists out of the country's oil-rich fields.

A suicide bombing and gun attack, which killed two Saudi border guards and their commanding officer last week, according to an analyst, was to prove that Islamic State is serious against the Saudi kingdom.

No group claimed to date has claimed responsibility for the assault in the remote desert area. It was noted to be right alongside to Iraq's Anbar province where Islamic State militants are fighting Iraqi army forces.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud inaugurated the first phase of the border security project in September.

The barrier will eventually stretch across the Saudi-Iraq border from Jordan to Kuwait. The structure is comprised of 78 monitoring towers, eight command center, 10 mobile surveillance vehicles, 32 rapid-response centers and three rapid intervention squads.

According to a promotional video, the six-mile-deep barrier consists of a ditch, two fences and a patrol road connecting the watchtowers and guardrooms. The video also included footage of thermal images and battlefield radar systems that can detect individuals at up to 12 miles away and vehicles at up to 24 miles away.

Islamic State sees Saudi Arabia's links to the West as a betrayal of Islam. The terrorist organization has called for "lone-wolf" attacks against Saudi security forces, the Shiite Muslim minority and foreigners.

Further sparking dissent between the nation and ISIS is the fact that Saudi forces have joined U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State positions in Syria. The mobilized conservative Sunni clergy has also described the ideology of the al Qaeda offshoot as "deviant."

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An expansion of the Islamic State could turn into a struggle for the Saudi regime, which many hard-line Islamists see as decadent and corrupt.

A key goal of jihadists is the ultimate capture of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina.

*Catholic Online