Saudi allies coordinate defence response to Houthi attacks

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have moved to activate military coordination under their new joint defence pact after Houthi attacks on the kingdom, with Pakistan pledging to defend Saudi Arabia by “whatever means” are required.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad stood unequivocally behind the kingdom under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, though he did not say whether Pakistan had joined Saudi strikes against the Houthis or received a request for direct military assistance.

The pledge followed an urgent meeting of the three countries’ defence chiefs and chiefs of general staff in Riyadh on Friday. Saudi authorities said the commanders reviewed threats facing the kingdom and agreed to advance intelligence cooperation, military coordination and integration of capabilities to strengthen collective defence and deterrence.

The three governments reaffirmed their commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity and said they would begin translating obligations under the agreement into effective military cooperation. No joint combat deployment or specific operational measures were announced.

The talks were called after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met in New York and discussed the escalating attacks and implementation of the pact.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7. Its central provision treats an armed attack against any one of the three states as an attack against all, while providing for broader defence cooperation.

The meeting came as Houthi forces intensified missile and drone attacks across the Saudi border and fighting widened inside Yemen. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis on Thursday were intercepted and destroyed before they could strike Taif and the Red Sea industrial city of Yanbu.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree separately claimed the group had launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones against Saudi military positions, including command centres, weapons depots and missile sites in the Jazan region. Claims by the Houthis about damage and casualties were not independently confirmed.

The escalation has also threatened energy infrastructure and shipping routes at a time when the wider Middle East conflict has already disrupted oil movements. Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on routes designed to reduce exposure to the Strait of Hormuz, while attacks on energy facilities and transport infrastructure have heightened concern over supply security.

The United Nations has warned that Yemen has returned to large-scale fighting after a period of relative calm following the 2022 truce. UN officials told the Security Council that Houthi operations had expanded across several fronts and included attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, while displacement inside Yemen had increased sharply.

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, issued an unusually forceful message to troops amid the escalation, urging soldiers stationed on the kingdom’s frontiers to remain prepared to perform their duties and defend Saudi territory.

“Protecting this great nation” and preventing anyone from seizing any part of its territory were among the greatest duties, the Grand Mufti said in a statement carried by the Saudi state news agency. He said lives could be sacrificed in defence of the country and called for the defeat of the Houthis and those supporting them.

His statement also described restoration of the authority of Yemen’s internationally recognised government throughout the country as a pressing obligation. Saudi Arabia backs that government against the Houthis, who control Sanaa and substantial territory in northern and western Yemen.

The latest fighting has placed particular focus on the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. UN officials have warned that Houthi advances along Yemen’s western coast and threats to commercial vessels could endanger freedom of navigation through a route central to global trade.