Turkey and Pakistan to Send Troops to Saudi Arabia Amid Houthi Attacks

I came across this today and thought it was worth sharing properly, because it touches a part of the region we all keep half an eye on living here in Kuwait. Turkey and Pakistan have agreed to carry out what they’re calling a “rapid deployment” of troops to Saudi Arabia, under a defence pact that’s been building for a while now.

This isn’t a small announcement. It comes straight after a meeting in Riyadh between the three countries, and it’s tied directly to the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that have been getting worse, not better.

If you’ve been following the drone strikes near Madinah and other parts of the kingdom, this is the response. Saudi Arabia is bringing in outside military muscle, fast.

So what exactly did they agree to?

According to the joint statement released by the three governments, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to “move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defence commitments”. In plainer words: they’re not just talking about mutual defence anymore, they’re actually doing it.

The statement says they’ll “take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom”. So Saudi Arabia will be getting both Turkish and Pakistani forces on the ground, and it sounds like this is meant to happen quickly rather than over months of planning.

This builds on the Mecca agreement, which Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey had already reaffirmed as their joint defence pact. Former US President Trump had earlier described it as a “Big, Bold” pact that effectively created a new security bloc between the three countries.

Why now? The Houthi attacks

None of this is happening in a vacuum. Yemen’s Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, and we’ve already covered a Houthi drone targeting a power station near Madinah’s Grand Mosque. That strike, so close to one of Islam’s holiest sites, clearly rattled a lot of people, and it seems to have pushed things forward on the defence front.

So the timing here makes sense. Saudi Arabia is facing a real and ongoing threat from across its southern border, and rather than handle it alone, it’s leaning on partners it already has defence agreements with.

What this means if you live in Kuwait

For those of us here, this is a reminder that Gulf security isn’t something happening far away. Kuwait has its own defence ties in the region too. Back in late September, Kuwait and Pakistan signed their own defence and military cooperation agreement, which shows how these partnerships are spreading across the Gulf, not just involving Saudi Arabia.

For citizens and expats here, I wouldn’t say there’s anything to be alarmed about right now. There’s no indication this affects daily life in Kuwait, travel to Saudi Arabia for work or Umrah, or border security here. But it is a sign that the wider region is treating the Houthi threat seriously enough to bring in foreign troops, and that’s worth knowing if you travel through the kingdom often or have family working there.

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