Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said any attack on Saudi Arabia could activate the recently signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, days after Yemen’s Houthis launched a barrage of missiles at the kingdom. “If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” he told Pakistani media outlet Geo News on Tuesday night. “There should be no doubt about that. We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact, and … we will honour them in case there is a need.” Yemen’s Houthi group on Tuesday carried out attacks in southern Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh saying that at least 73 people were wounded, as fighting escalates in Yemen between the Iran-aligned group and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan last month signed the Mecca agreement, committing to reinforce collective deterrence against any aggression. The agreement mirrors a key NATO stipulation – a strike on any single member is to be considered a strike on the entire group, though the precise mechanisms for implementing this pledge have yet to be clarified.
The deal was agreed as the three nations grapple with heightened regional frictions, including worries over Israel’s expanding military capabilities and Iran’s growing influence across the Middle East. Combined, the three states field close to 1.4 million active troops, some 3,400 military aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets, according to the 2026 Global Firepower Index, which assesses the military strength of 145 countries. On Wednesday, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that Saudi Arabian warplanes carried out a series of air strikes across Yemen’s Marib, al-Jawf and Taiz governorates. It said five air strikes targeted the Khab wa Sha’af district in al-Jawf, 10 other air attacks targeted areas in the Sirwah district of Marib, and five hit the al-Barh area in Taiz.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi forces. The ongoing hostilities mark the most serious escalation since a United Nations-brokered truce halted large-scale fighting in 2022. The war in Yemen started in 2014 after the Houthis took Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. Diplomats had hoped the truce would evolve into a durable political settlement, but those efforts have faltered amid regional tensions triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.
The fighting resumed in July, when government forces struck the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa, blocking the landing of an aircraft from Iran. Then last week, the Houthis launched a major offensive, trying to advance through western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, towards the port city of al-Makha (Mocha) and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The Houthis had declared a blockade against Saudi vessels transiting the waterway, which is a vital corridor for shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The strait has taken on new significance for Saudi oil exports since Iran began restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz at the outset of the US and Israel’s war on the country.
