ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s resources are at Saudi Arabia’s disposal to help protect the Kingdom and Islam’s holy sites, the country’s defense minister said on Tuesday.
The statement highighting Islamabad’s commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security followed a series of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia on Saudi airports and other civilian facilities that killed more than a dozen people and injured hundreds others. The strikes on the Kingdom have raised concerns about the widening regional impact of the US-Iran conflict.
Pakistan, which signed a bilateral defense agreement with Saudi Arabia in September 2025 and a trilateral defense agreement involving both the Kingdom and Turkiye in August this year, has repeatedly warned the Houthis against attacking the Kingdom in recent statements.
“All of Pakistan’s resources are available for Saudi Arabia. It is our brotherly country, and the holy sites of our religion are located there. I believe it is our responsibility to protect them and make all our resources available to them,” Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in comments to private broadcaster We News, published on Tuesday.
“They are being provided currently and in every stage going forward, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Saudi brothers to defend their land against the enemies of Saudi Arabia.”
The comments came after the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said that its forces had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis at the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The Houthis have been attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities since last week. On Saturday, Houthi strikes killed 13 people and wounded hundreds at King Khalid International Airport. Four people died in earlier attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and another was killed on Sunday.
Last week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to defend the Kingdom during a televised meeting of his cabinet.
“We have a bilateral agreement, a trilateral agreement with regard to defense (of Saudi Arabia),” Sharif said on Sunday. “And Pakistan will not tolerate any kind of aggression. Our agreements demand it, and so do our bonds of brotherhood.”
A Pakistani military spokesman earlier confirmed the presence of Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia as part of the recently signed Makkah trilateral defense alliance.
“I can confirm that we, the forces of Pakistan, are already there (in the Kingdom). That I can assure you,” Pakistan’s Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with CNN.
“Pakistani troops have been there for decades, in multiple capabilities. They have been there for decades in Saudi Arabia,” he said, when asked if Pakistani military personnel were deployed in the Kingdom under the Makkah defense pact.