SAUDI King Salman sacked his military chief of staff and other top army officials today in a shake-up of the Defence Ministry.

General Abdulrahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan has been replaced in the top job by one-time air force boss General Fayyadh bin Hamid al-Rwaili, while the chiefs of the ground and air forces have also been ditched.

Khaled bin Hussain al-Biyari, CEO of mobile phone and internet service provider Saudi Telecom Co, becomes assistant defence minister in the upheaval, probably prompted by the Gulf kingdom’s inability to make headway in its war on Yemen.