After the Houthi attacks, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey agree to deploy troops in the Kingdom

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agreed to deploy military forces immediately inside Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Monday, after an emergency meeting of the three countries in Riyadh.

According to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey discussed ways to strengthen the kingdom’s defence, against the backdrop of the situation in Yemen.

“We also discussed what can be done to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue. Saudi Arabia has pursued a very constructive approach to resolving it,” Fidan told reporters after the meeting.

The Saudi Minister of Defence, for his part, wrote in a post on X that “the Mecca Defence Pact Committee between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries in the face of the hateful attacks against the Kingdom and the holy places”.

“The Committee agreed to activate collective deterrent measures within the Alliance, in response to the attacks and against all those responsible for them,” he added.

The meeting of the Pact’s strategic, political and defence committee was attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, as well as officials from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, powerful explosions were heard in Riyadh, an area that has recently often been targeted by Yemen’s Houthis, according to residents and an AFP journalist.

The explosion was heard in areas not far from the international airport and made “windows shake”, a resident told AFP.