Syrian troops sent to Yemen, officials say; Syria denies

Multiple Yemeni officials said thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with some already on the ground, while Syria's official SANA news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying Damascus had not sent troops to Yemen “at this time”.

Three Yemeni military sources and a defence official told AFP that hundreds of Syrian troops had already been deployed on both sides of the Saudi-Yemeni border. One military official said those already on the Yemeni side were leading drone operations against the Houthis.

A source from Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, the country's top governing body, said Syria would send as many as 3,000 troops to help fend off the Houthis. The source said the arrangement was approved during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh this week, when the two countries signed cooperation agreements including a defence deal.

A high-level Yemeni Defence Ministry source said the first phase would involve around 3,000 troops, with some already in place, and that as many as 10,000 could eventually be deployed. The source said technical teams from the Syrian and Saudi defence ministries were in Riyadh finalising arrangements for Syrian forces to take part in operations against the Houthis.

The diplomatic source quoted by SANA said the agreement with Riyadh focuses on training military forces and building their capabilities, and that coordination visits to Syria would take place next month. The source said the cooperation could potentially develop into a mutual defence agreement or Syria joining the Mecca Alliance.

Saudi Arabia has been pressing allies for help as it faces daily fire from the Iran-backed Houthis, who recently seized parts of Yemen's Red Sea coastline from the Riyadh-backed government. Houthi attacks have increased in recent weeks, forcing Riyadh airport to close for two weeks after fatal strikes there.

In August, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a defence pact in Mecca stating that an attack on one country would be considered an attack on all three. Egypt's parliament later approved defensive military support for Saudi Arabia if requested. France has said it is sending troops to help shield a Saudi oil terminal, and the United Kingdom has announced it will deploy fighter planes to help Saudi Arabia against the attacks.

Yemen has seen renewed fighting since the collapse of a four-year-old truce over the summer. The country has been at war since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, with a Saudi-led coalition entering the conflict a year later in support of the government.