Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey activated the Mecca Defence Pact, ordering rapid deployment of forces into Saudi Arabia on Monday, after a wave of Houthi attacks.
The three nations signed the pact in August, treating an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, but had left the exact military commitments vague until this emergency meeting in Riyadh.
Saudi defence minister Khalid bin Salman announced that the alliance’s Strategic Political and Defence Committee had agreed to activate deterrence measures, citing the Houthi strike on a power distribution station that feeds the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina as a key trigger.
Meanwhile, Saudi‑backed forces have launched a major offensive in Yemen, recapturing the towns of Dhubab, Bab and Hadeid, and the coalition has flown 100 fighter jets to provide air cover and destroy hundreds of Houthi targets, according to Maj‑Gen Turki al‑Malki.
The attacks have killed 959 civilians and wounded more than 4,200, with 174,097 people displaced inside Yemen, according to the World Health Organization.
The alliance will conduct joint air‑ground exercises within 48 hours to tighten integration and will monitor the security situation along the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait to safeguard maritime traffic.