Mecca Pact Activated: Pakistan, Turkey to Send Forces to Saudi
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey invoke the Mecca pact for the first time after Houthi strikes, agreeing to a rapid deployment to the kingdom.
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have invoked the Mecca pact, formally the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, for the first time, agreeing at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on October 5 to send Pakistani and Turkish forces to the kingdom after repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi cities and energy sites.
“The Committee decided to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defense commitments and to take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom,” said a joint statement shared by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, according to Al Jazeera. The statement did not give the size or role of the forces.
Under the pact, signed in Mecca on August 7, “any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” Foreign Policy reported. The three members field nearly 1.4 million active troops between them, according to Foreign Policy, and Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority country.
Why Riyadh triggered the pact
The activation follows weeks of escalation in Yemen. Houthi forces have seized much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and have attacked Saudi cities and facilities, including the East-West Pipeline that Riyadh has used to export oil while Iran restricts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported. The Houthis said this week they had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and the Petro Rabigh refinery, according to Foreign Policy. Saudi authorities said two airports were hit on the evening of October 5, injuring at least three people.
The joint statement did not name the Houthis. It cited attempted attacks on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Houthis had not commented on the pact’s activation as of October 6, Foreign Policy said.
At the same time, Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said 100 fighter jets were supporting a counteroffensive by Yemen’s internationally recognized government to retake territory the Houthis seized last month. Yemeni officials said their forces had recaptured several towns near Bab el-Mandeb, and government forces now say their goal includes retaking the capital, Sanaa, held by the Houthis since 2014.
Defensive role, for now
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News from Riyadh that Pakistani and Turkish forces were “playing a supporting role.” “We are definitely involved in reconnaissance and such things, but the combat is practically being conducted by Saudi Arabia’s own forces,” he said.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry said operational details were “a matter of operational confidentiality.” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on October 2 that the agreement “is defensive in nature” and “has no offensive agenda.”
Turkey’s role is less defined. Ankara has not publicly confirmed any deployment, and under Article 92 of Turkey’s constitution, sending troops abroad requires parliamentary authorization; parliament has not yet ratified the pact, Al Jazeera reported.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman struck a firmer tone, writing that the committee agreed to activate collective deterrence “in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them.” Dania Thafer of the Gulf International Forum told Al Jazeera the phrase was “intentionally ambiguous,” warning both the Houthis and “external sponsors.”
Iran is watching
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on October 4 that Tehran hoped reports of a Pakistani deployment for war in Yemen were untrue and warned that any new intervention would “complicate the situation.” Dar said he had briefed President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the pact in New York in September, and that Iranian leaders urged engaging the Houthis politically.
Javad Heiran-Nia, a Tehran-based analyst, told Al Jazeera that Iran could tolerate a purely defensive Pakistani presence but would regard Pakistani participation in offensive operations against the Houthis as “a red line.”
What to watch
Analysis: The pact’s first use turns a political declaration into a test of how far Islamabad and Ankara will go. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera expect specialized contributions, such as air defense, drones, electronic warfare and engineers, rather than ground combat. The open question is whether Riyadh’s aims stop at defending Saudi territory and the Bab el-Mandeb or extend to the Yemeni government’s stated goal of retaking Sanaa, which Thafer said “would be a very different and potentially much longer war.”
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi deterrence against Houthis
- Foreign Policy: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey trigger mutual defense pact
