Khawaja Asif

On October 5, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh to move ahead with the practical implementation of their collective defense commitments and to ensure the rapid deployment of agreed forces.

Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, said at the time that Pakistan and Turkey had a presence in the theater, but that only Saudi forces were in combat.

Separately, a senior Pakistani military officer said Pakistani soldiers had been serving in the kingdom for decades in multiple capacities.

No arrival of new Turkish or Pakistani units had been publicly confirmed in the reporting reviewed.

Geopolitics Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey have activated the Mecca Defense Pact and agreed to deploy Pakistani and Turkish forces onto Saudi soil after Houthi strikes on Saudi airports and energy sites.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the foreign forces would support reconnaissance while Saudi troops conduct combat.

Pakistan already stations troops in the kingdom.

Reports said Ankara is preparing troops and aircraft to defend Riyadh and the holy cities while staying out of Yemen.

Saudi territory itself is under attack, and Pakistan appears to already be playing a role.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif says Pakistani personnel are supporting Saudi operations, including with reconnaissance and other assistance.

He stressed that Saudi forces are the ones conducting the actual combat operations inside Yemen, but said Pakistan is providing whatever support Riyadh requires.

At this point, we don't have evidence that Pakistani troops are crossing into Yemen or that Pakistani aircraft are carrying out strikes against Houthi positions.

Experts stressed that the situation was far from normal.

In Riyadh on Monday, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir were scheduled to attend a meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement alongside Saudi and Turkish counterparts, according to Pakistan's foreign ministry.

The first such meeting took place in Istanbul on August 31, and Turkey's foreign minister said at the time that the alliance's permanent secretariat would be based in Riyadh.

A Pakistani source told Reuters in September that the pact was defensive and limited to protecting Saudi territory and that no decision had been made to join retaliatory strikes.

So far, according to that analysis, Saudi Arabia has not invoked the pact.

Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, said last month that a spillover of the Yemen conflict into the kingdom would make the agreement operational.

Pakistan's foreign ministry has described the alliance as defensive and said expansion was not under consideration, and a spokesman said Islamabad would act under the agreement when the time came.

Fitton said Turkey could help meet Saudi military needs, but also called it unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be pulled into the American-Iranian war.

The Houthis seized the port city of Mocha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, ending a truce that had largely held since 2022.

Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Asif, said in Rome that Pakistan was bound to defend Saudi Arabia with whatever means are available under the new mutual defense pact among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, though he declined to say whether Pakistani forces had joined any strikes.

Trump asked about Saudi Arabia after reports that he had declined a Saudi request to join the bombing of the Houthis, said the kingdom would not exist without him.

Behind the public defiance in Tehran, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions, that Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi told European and Middle Eastern diplomats in private meetings at the United Nations that Iran would restore inspectors' access to its bombed nuclear facilities in exchange for sanctions relief.

All right, turning now to the ongoing fight between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, where the Middle East's newest military alliance is getting its first real test.

Pakistan's defense minister says his nation is prepared to use, quote, "whatever means are available to defend the kingdom." That warning came Tuesday from Islamabad's Khwaja Asif, who described the Iran-backed group as aggressors and made clear that, quote, "Any enemy of Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Pakistan.

That should be very clear," end quote.

But how far is Pakistan prepared to go, or has it already taken action? Reporters put that question to the defense minister during a visit to Rome, asking whether Pakistani forces had participated in recent airstrikes against Iranian operators in Yemen.

From Pakistan, the country's defense minister said it will use whatever means are available to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif stated Pakistan's military capabilities would be available under a new mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were strong indications Iran was involved in a major security incident at RAF Fairford.

Five British men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses, but later released on bail.