Pakistan Confirms Large Troop Deployment to Saudi Arabia Amid Houthi Attacks

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said on Friday that Islamabad has stationed a significant number of troops and resources in Saudi Arabia, specifically in Riyadh. He said the deployment is intended solely to strengthen Saudi defenses and not to carry out offensive operations against the Houthis. Pakistani soldiers in the kingdom will not cross another country's border to strike the Houthis, he told reporters, describing their role as defensive.

The confirmation followed an escalation in Houthi air attacks on targets inside Saudi Arabia. According to Kompas.com, one of those strikes hit Riyadh International Airport on Thursday and left three people dead. The Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets since launching a rapid offensive in territory near the two countries' shared border.

Khan declined to say whether Pakistan has added personnel since signing a joint defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye in August 2026. That pact commits the three countries to assist one another if any of them comes under attack. He said decisions on the number of troops, the timing and the locations of deployments would be handled through the trilateral alliance, which is headquartered in Riyadh and headed by a retired Pakistani general serving as secretary-general.

The spokesperson also stressed that the Pakistani military presence in Saudi Arabia is not a new policy, noting that Islamabad has routinely placed personnel in the kingdom since the 1980s, including after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral defense agreement. Kompas.com reported separately that Turkiye, which is also bound by the pact with Saudi Arabia, has been unwilling to fight the Houthis, while Syria has discussed options for assisting Riyadh.

The troop question has drawn added attention because of the August pact, which was signed in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. With Houthi strikes continuing, the alliance now faces its first serious test over how far its members are prepared to go in Saudi Arabia's defense.