Dubai: The United Arab Emirates has increased the duration of compulsory national military service to one year up from nine months.
The new measure concerns Emirati male and female citizens, holders of the 12th-grade high secondary school certificates.
The National and Reserve Service Authority of the UAE Armed Forces General Command said that the resolution will take effect from the date of issuance, reported Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm.
A law implementing compulsory military service for Emirati men was first issued in June 2014, a move highlighting the Gulf state's concern over turmoil in the region.
The UAE, a federation of seven emirates with a mostly expatriate population, faces no immediate threats from neighbours and has been spared militant attacks that have targeted other countries like Saudi Arabia.
Like other Gulf Arab states, the US ally has strong military ties with Western powers that say they are committed to helping the OPEC member country deter or repel any threat.
But UAE, a big buyer of Western military hardware, has a territorial dispute with its much bigger neighbour, Iran, over three Gulf islands controlled by the Islamic republic.
It is also wary of a neighbourhood fraught with conflicts, including in Syria and Iraq.
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