Peninsula Shield Force
On 14 March, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), a six-nation regional grouping which includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates agreed to send troops of the Peninsula Shield Force to guard key facilities, such as oil and gas installations and financial institutions, at the request of the Bahraini government. About 4,000 Saudi Arabian troops arrived, to be followed by 500 UAE police. The Saudi troops arrived in around 150 armoured vehicles and 50 other lightly armoured vehicles.