Middle East — 2026-10-09

Turkey and Pakistan Agree to Deploy Military Forces to Saudi Arabia Under Mecca Defense Pact as Houthis Strike Airports

BLUFTurkey or Pakistan is likely to publicly confirm military forces on Saudi soil by late November, risking direct entanglement in Yemen and a sharp escalation with Iran.

Ministers and military commanders from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met in Riyadh on Monday, and a joint statement said the Mecca pact committee decided to move immediately to implementation and ensure rapid deployment of the agreed forces, without specifying their size or role 12. Both parliaments must still approve the pact before leaders can ratify it 2. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that Turkish and Pakistani forces are doing reconnaissance while Saudi forces conduct the combat, though Ankara has not publicly confirmed any deployment 1. Saudi aviation authorities said attacks hit Jizan and Najran airports, causing three minor injuries, and the coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Khamis Mushait 2. The Houthis claimed strikes on Riyadh and Abha airports, which The National could not verify 2.

Analysis
Turkey or Pakistan is likely to officially and publicly confirm deploying combat or military forces on Saudi territory by November 30, 2026. Confidence is high, because Pakistan's defence minister has already described reconnaissance activity and all three governments committed to rapid deployment. That remark, carried only by Al Jazeera, partly acknowledges what had been a pledge, though Ankara has confirmed nothing and Islamabad now calls operational details confidential. Confirmation may therefore come as a general acknowledgment without force figures, and Turkey faces the longer path because its parliament must authorize any deployment. Islamabad and Ankara may instead keep deployments unacknowledged, treating the pact as signaling to the Houthis and Iran while avoiding parliamentary votes. Confirmation would push shipping, airline and Iran-facing diplomatic planners to treat the Houthi front as interstate confrontation, while silence leaves Riyadh reliant on its own forces.

3 sources

Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi deterrence against Houthis: What that means - Al Jazeera
Saudi airports attacked as Yemen's west coast battle intensifies - The National
Turkey, Pakistan to deploy forces to Saudi amid Houthi attacks: joint statement - Gulf News