Pakistan Warns Mecca Mutual Defense Pact Could Be Triggered by Houthi Attacks

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that the Mecca Mutual Defense Pact, signed last month with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, would be formally activated if Saudi Arabia faces unprovoked aggression or if the Yemen conflict spills over. According to Al Jazeera, Asif made the remarks to Pakistan's Geo News on the evening of the 9th. The previous day, Houthi forces launched a missile attack on southern Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi side saying at least 73 people were injured.

The Mecca Mutual Defense Pact was signed by the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan last month, pledging to strengthen "collective deterrence" against any aggression, with provisions resembling NATO's Article 5 — an attack on any member is considered an attack on all. However, Al Jazeera noted that "the specific implementation mechanism has not yet been clarified."

The three countries together have approximately 1.4 million active military personnel, about 3,400 military aircraft, 6,000 tanks, and more than 340 naval assets, according to Al Jazeera citing the 2026 Global Firepower Index. The pact was reached as the three countries face Israel's expanding military power, Iran's rising regional influence, and shipping risks posed by Houthi forces' blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Yemen conflict began in 2014 when Houthi forces seized the capital Sana'a, and the following year a Saudi-led multinational coalition launched a military intervention that continues to this day. In 2022, a UN-brokered ceasefire ended large-scale fighting, and diplomats had originally hoped the ceasefire would evolve into a lasting political solution, but Al Jazeera noted that "these efforts have stalled due to the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran." This external military action is widely regarded as a key trigger for escalating tensions in the Middle East.

In July, the Houthi-controlled Sana'a airport was struck by Yemeni government airstrikes, an Iranian aircraft was unable to land, and the ceasefire effectively collapsed. Last week, Houthi forces launched a major offensive, attempting to cross western Taiz and southern Hodeidah to advance toward the Red Sea port of Mokha and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Houthi forces have announced a blockade of Saudi vessels passing through the strait; since the US and Israel launched war against Iran and Iran began restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic significance of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for Saudi oil exports has further increased.

According to Al Jazeera, citing the Houthi-controlled Al Masirah TV, Saudi warplanes launched multiple rounds of airstrikes on Yemen's Marib, Al-Jawf, and Taiz governorates on the 9th — five rounds of airstrikes on the Habb Washahaf district of Al-Jawf governorate, ten airstrikes on Sirwah in Marib governorate, and five airstrikes on the Barsh area in Taiz governorate. The Saudi military has not yet responded.

"If unprovoked aggression occurs, or if what is happening in Yemen spills over into Saudi Arabia, the Mecca Pact will definitely be activated," Asif told Geo News. "The pact's provisions are binding... we will fulfill them when needed." Whether Pakistan will actually deploy military forces under the pact, and how Asif's so-called "fulfillment" would operate, the three governments have so far not provided operational details.

A multilateral defense pact resembling NATO's Article 5, born in a region continuously torn by external military intervention, has placed the related countries' vigilance against the spillover of turmoil alongside new escalation risks on the table.