Defense agreement activated: Türkiye and Pakistan send troops to Saudi Arabia

afp | Due to ongoing attacks by the pro-Iranian Houthis on Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have announced the deployment of troops to support the kingdom. The three countries said after a meeting in Riyadh on Monday that they had agreed to immediately begin implementing a mutual defense agreement. Meanwhile, the Houthis again targeted targets in Saudi Arabia, including the capital's international airport.

The representatives of Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia met for an emergency meeting in Riyadh. They condemned the recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, particularly on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, without naming the Iran-backed Houthis. A joint statement said the “agreed forces and military assets” should be “quickly deployed in the kingdom.” However, it was not clear from this what tasks the troops would take on after their arrival in Saudi Arabia.

The majority Sunni states of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan concluded the defense agreement at the beginning of August against the background of the Iran war and its consequences. In the event of an attack on one of the three members, the others are obliged to provide military assistance.

Amid the escalating conflict, Riyadh was rocked by loud explosions on Monday evening, journalists from the AFP news agency reported. There had been detonations in the Saudi Arabian capital earlier in the day. “I saw my windows shaking,” a resident told AFP.

The Houthis said they attacked Riyadh's international airport, a refinery owned by state oil company Aramco and several other targets in the kingdom. Houthi spokesman Jahja Saree said the militia attacked Riyadh's international airport with drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. They also targeted an Aramco refinery in Rabigh as well as military sites and airports in the south of the country.

At the same time, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen reported the destruction of Houthi positions in Hodeida on the Red Sea coast. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said on Monday evening on the online service X that the naval forces had "destroyed weapons depots and facilities for storing booby-trapped boats and sea mines." The coalition also foiled a “planned attack” on shipping routes in the southern Red Sea.

The government troops in Yemen said they had previously launched a massive wave of attacks against the Houthi militia and also targeted the capital Sanaa. The army carried out more than 1,100 attacks on militia positions, an army spokesman said on Monday.

The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia said it took part in the new offensive against the Houthis. According to their spokesman, 100 combat aircraft were used in attacks in the morning to support the ground troops.

Following recent gains by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Council announced on Sunday an offensive to retake all areas. State authority should be extended again to the “entire national territory,” said Presidential Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi.

Shortly before the announcement of the offensive by government troops, the Houthis had taken control of an important road between the city of Tais, which was besieged by the militia, and the interim capital Aden. The Houthi militia has controlled large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, for years. In September, the Houthis took control of large parts of the western Yemeni coast.