Pakistan Warns Houthi Attacks Could Trigger Makkah Defense Pact

Pakistan has signaled that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement could be activated following a series of Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure and military sites. The strikes, which targeted cities including Abha, Khamis Mushait, Najran, and Jazan, wounded 73 people and disrupted aviation hubs. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attacks as violations of Saudi sovereignty, while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned that unprovoked aggression or spillover from Yemen into Saudi territory would make the pact operational.

Signed on August 7 by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye, the agreement establishes a collective-defence framework where an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all. To implement the pact, the nations formed a Strategic Political and Defence Committee, which met in Istanbul on August 31. While Pakistan has already deployed 8,000 troops and air defense systems to Saudi Arabia under a separate bilateral agreement, the trilateral pact remains formally inactive.

Pakistan's Foreign Office later tempered these warnings, with spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan describing the alliance as a defensive architecture for regional deterrence. Khan clarified that military intervention is not currently under discussion and characterized such scenarios as hypothetical. He also ruled out the immediate expansion of the alliance to other regional powers, stating that member states must first consolidate their cooperation. This shift in posture marks a departure from 2015, when the Pakistani parliament voted for neutrality regarding the conflict in Yemen.