Pakistan and Turkiye Deploy Forces to Saudi Arabia as Mecca Pact Enters Operational Phase

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkiye, has moved from paper to practice. At an emergency session of the pact's Strategic Political and Defense Committee in Riyadh on Monday, member states agreed to deploy Pakistani and Turkish forces to the kingdom, marking the first concrete activation of collective defense commitments under the trilateral framework. The decision comes as Riyadh escalates its support for a Yemeni government offensive aimed at retaking territory seized by Houthi fighters last month.

A joint statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office said the committee had resolved to proceed immediately with the practical implementation of collective defense obligations. It pledged to supply the agreed military forces and capabilities and to guarantee their swift deployment inside the kingdom, in keeping with established arrangements and the domestic laws of each party. The statement notably refrained from specifying the size, composition, or precise role of the forces involved, leaving significant operational questions unanswered.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki disclosed that 100 fighter jets were backing the Yemeni government's counteroffensive to recover areas lost to the Houthis in September, including stretches of Yemen's Red Sea coastline. The Houthis' capture of that coastal territory, which sits near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, has raised alarms about the security of one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, through which a substantial share of global commercial shipping passes.

Speaking hours after the Riyadh meeting, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that Pakistani personnel were already contributing to the mission, though he characterized their involvement as limited. In an interview with Geo News from the Saudi capital, Asif said Turkish and Pakistani forces were playing a supporting role, engaged in reconnaissance and similar activities, while actual combat operations were being carried out by Saudi Arabia's own forces, which he said were the ones retaking territory. His remarks appeared designed to draw a clear line between Pakistan's defensive posture and the Saudi-led offensive.

That distinction has become the central question facing Islamabad. Analysts told Al Jazeera that Pakistan has yet to publicly answer how long it can maintain a defensive role while operating alongside a Saudi offensive campaign. The ambiguity reflects a deeper tension: Pakistan wants to honor its commitments to a vital security partner and economic benefactor without being drawn into direct combat against the Houthis, a conflict that could inflame domestic opinion and complicate its relationships elsewhere in the region.

Pakistan's military footprint in Saudi Arabia is far from new. Its forces have trained Saudi personnel since 1967, and a 1982 agreement formalized the stationing of Pakistani troops in the kingdom. A declassified CIA assessment from June 1985 estimated that between 13,000 and 14,000 Pakistanis were serving in the Saudi army at that time, including an armoured brigade based at Tabuk. Pakistan also dispatched a large contingent to the kingdom for defensive duties during the 1990-91 Gulf War, establishing a precedent for military cooperation that has endured for decades.

More recently, the two countries signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in September 2025, which treats an attack on either nation as an attack on both. In April, Riyadh confirmed that a Pakistani force, including fighter and support aircraft, had arrived at King Abdulaziz airbase in the Eastern Province. Pakistan has never publicly disclosed the total number of its troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, maintaining a longstanding policy of operational silence on the matter.

In September, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, told the Saudi outlet Arab News that Pakistani forces were already deployed to protect the kingdom and its holy sites. He emphasized the word "physically" and said Pakistan would "go to any extent" in fulfilling that mission. ISPR did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment on the deployment agreed in Riyadh. On Tuesday, Pakistan's Ministry of Information said in a post on X that the country's commitment to the security of the holy sites and the kingdom was non-negotiable, adding that operational details of the collective deterrence would remain confidential and were not subject to media speculation.

Turkiye's contribution is considerably less transparent. Although Asif stated that Turkish forces were present, Ankara has not publicly confirmed any deployment. Gokhan Ereli, an international relations expert at Istanbul's Ibn Haldun University, told Al Jazeera that there is no publicly acknowledged standing Turkish deployment in Saudi Arabia. He also noted that under Article 92 of Turkiye's constitution, the authority to send troops abroad rests with parliament, which has not yet ratified the Mecca pact. That constitutional requirement could complicate or delay any formal Turkish military role, even as Turkish officials participate in the pact's committee meetings.

Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum, said Riyadh is determined to ensure the agreement carries real weight rather than remaining a symbolic gesture. She told Al Jazeera that Saudi Arabia is trying to transform the Mecca Pact from a political declaration into a functioning deterrent. In the near term, she said, Riyadh primarily wants Pakistan and Turkiye to help defend Saudi territory and strengthen its air and missile defense capabilities, sending a message that any future attack is no longer solely a Saudi-Houthi affair but a matter involving multiple allied nations.

The urgency behind that message is rooted in the Houthis' repeated strikes on Saudi cities and infrastructure. Those attacks have included targeting of the East West Pipeline, which Riyadh has relied upon to export oil as Iranian restrictions disrupt transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war waged by the United States. The pipeline's vulnerability underscores how the Houthi threat intersects with broader regional tensions and global energy security, giving the Mecca Pact's activation significance that extends well beyond Yemen's borders.

For Pakistan, the arrangement offers strategic depth and reinforces ties with a longstanding patron, but it also carries risks. Any escalation that pulls Pakistani personnel into active combat would test Islamabad's balancing act between its defense commitments and its desire to avoid entanglement. For Turkiye, the pact presents an opportunity to expand its influence in the Gulf, though parliamentary approval remains an obstacle. For Saudi Arabia, the deployment signals that it is no longer confronting the Houthis alone, even as the practical scope of its partners' involvement remains deliberately vague.