Saudi defence pact activated as Houthis claim refinery and airport strikes

A defence pact linking Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan is moving into action for the first time as Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on a Saudi refinery and Riyadh’s main airport. According to Al Jazeera, the three countries agreed on Monday to activate joint deterrence measures and rapidly send military forces to the kingdom—a shift from a standing promise of mutual protection to a commitment to deploy.

The decision followed an emergency meeting of the countries’ defence and foreign ministers in Riyadh. Their agreement, known as the Mecca Alliance for Defence, was signed on August 7. Its central pledge is that an attack on one member counts as an attack on all three, an approach similar to the collective-defence principle in NATO’s founding treaty.

Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman said the alliance was responding to attacks on the kingdom and those responsible for them. In a social media post, he stressed the three countries’ solidarity in confronting attacks against Saudi Arabia and holy sites. A separate statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry set out the next step:

The three countries would “provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment” to Saudi Arabia, according to the joint statement.

Energy sites and a sea passage in focus

The Houthis said they had struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and the Aramco refinery in Rabigh, on Saudi Arabia’s coast. They also claimed attacks on an airport, an airbase and other sites. These were claims by the group; the source report did not establish damage, disruption to refinery operations or an effect on energy supplies.

The deployment decision came hours after Saudi-backed forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government announced a counteroffensive. Those forces said they had recaptured the Red Sea port city of Mocha and taken control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait. They were seeking to recover territory seized by the Houthis the previous month. The Saudi-led coalition confirmed that it was supporting the offensive with 100 fighter jets.

From treaty to deployment

The alliance took shape amid regional conflict triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, according to Al Jazeera. The pact initially provided little detail about individual military obligations. After a Houthi missile barrage towards Saudi Arabia in early September, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that unprovoked aggression or fighting spilling over from Yemen could trigger the agreement.

Until Monday, the alliance had not acted. Analysts cited by Al Jazeera had said Pakistan and Turkiye were reluctant to give up their roles as mediators in the war on Iran. Abdulaziz Alghashian, a senior non-resident fellow at the Gulf International Forum, told the broadcaster that Houthi attacks had accelerated the alliance’s development and that its activation marked an important moment for regional security.

The next test is how the deployment pledge becomes an operation. The joint statement said commitments would follow approved arrangements and each country’s laws, but the report gave no deployment timetable or force breakdown. Those details, alongside developments at the claimed Saudi targets and around Bab al-Mandeb, remain the key points to watch.