Pakistan Confirms Military Deployment to Saudi Arabia Under Makkah Joint Defense Agreement

• Confirmation follows a trilateral agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye to provide designated forces under the pact.
• Deployment comes in response to repeated drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia against the Kingdom.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has confirmed the deployment of Pakistani forces to Saudi Arabia under the recently signed Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, stating that troops are currently serving in the Kingdom across “multiple capabilities and domains.”

The announcement follows a meeting of the Strategic-Political and Defense Committee of the Makkah Alliance for Defense in Riyadh, where Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye agreed to contribute designated forces and military capabilities to address evolving security threats. The session was convened after a series of drone and missile strikes by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia targeted civilian and economic infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. Officials from the three nations at the Oct. 5 gathering in Riyadh reaffirmed their unequivocal rejection of any attack or threat against the Kingdom’s security and territorial integrity.

Signed in the holy city of Makkah on Aug. 7, 2026, the trilateral agreement commits the signatories to treat an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, establishing one of the region’s most significant collective security arrangements.

“I can confirm that we, the forces of Pakistan, are already there [in the Kingdom]. That I can assure you,” Lt. Gen. Chaudhry told CNN in an interview. When asked specifically if personnel were deployed under the Makkah alliance framework, he added, “Yeah, Pakistani troops have been there for decades, in multiple capabilities. They have been there for decades in Saudi Arabia.”

Pakistan has a long history of providing military support to Saudi Arabia, including training and advisory deployments, while Riyadh has repeatedly provided financial backing to Islamabad during periods of economic difficulty. The two nations also signed a separate bilateral defense agreement in September of last year, under which Islamabad deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets, and an air defense system to the Kingdom, significantly ramping up military cooperation, according to Reuters reports from May.

Lt. Gen. Chaudhry emphasized that the trilateral alliance did not emerge in a vacuum. “There is a sustained diplomatic, political, military, and people-to-people relationship between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye,” he said. “So I can share with you that the Pakistani forces, in multiple capabilities and domains, are already there [in the Kingdom].”

According to Reuters, citing two officials, Türkiye is also dispatching primarily defensive and technical support to Saudi Arabia to help counter the Houthi threat. Alongside Pakistan, Ankara—which commands NATO’s second-largest army and possesses a robust defense industry—has condemned the Houthi attacks and agreed to join a Saudi-led coalition aimed at ensuring navigational safety in the Red Sea.

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