Will pursue terrorists until they are wiped out, declares Saudi Arabia's crown prince Salman

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country will "wipe out terrorists from the face of the earth" at the first meeting of the Islamic counter-terrorism alliance in Riyadh.

In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries... with no coordination, this ends today, with this alliance," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

The Islamic counter-terrorism alliance called the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition(IMCTC) formed in 2015 by Prince Salman sees itself as a "pan-Islamic unified front" with as many as 41 member countries in its fold.

The alliance, however, excluded Saudi Arabia's "enemies" - Iran, Syria and Iraq.

Qatar stayed away from the coalition as Saudi Arabia cut ties with the country two months ago.

At the post-meet press conference Lt. GeneralAbdulelah Al Saleh said the coalition will establish its headquarters in Riyadh where defense ministers of member countries will meet every year.

Saleh stressed that the common goal of the countries is to "combat terrorism and not at creating a Sunni bloc".