Pakistan says troops in Saudi will not attack Houthis

Pakistan said Friday that it has a “substantial” number of forces deployed in Saudi Arabia but that they are there for defence and would not cross borders to attack the Houthis.

Foreign ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan told journalists that Pakistan already has “substantial” forces and resources in Riyadh. He did not specify whether the deployment had grown under a defence pact signed this year with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Khan said Pakistani military personnel in the kingdom “would not be crossing the borders of the other side for an attack on the Houthis” and were acting “in the defence of the territory.”

Yemen's Houthis have launched repeated aerial attacks against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on Riyadh's international airport on Thursday that killed three people.

Pakistan signed a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey in August committing the three countries to help each other if one is attacked. Khan declined to say whether new Pakistani deployments had been made since the conflict intensified, saying decisions on “how much and when and where” forces would be deployed would be up to the trilateral alliance.

Khan said Pakistani forces have been deployed in Saudi Arabia regularly since the 1980s, including after Islamabad and Riyadh signed a bilateral agreement in 2025.