Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan plan urgent chiefs-of-staff talks on support for Riyadh under their Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the Saudi Press Agency reported. No date or support details were given; Riyadh also reported fresh attacks from Yemen.
The plan followed Thursday’s New York meeting of the three countries’ foreign ministers. Their agreement, signed August 7, treats an attack on one signatory as an attack on all. At their first Strategic Political and Defence Committee meeting in Istanbul on August 31, they agreed to establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia and deepen military cooperation. The ministers also condemned attacks targeting Mecca and Saudi civilian and economic facilities, and affirmed the kingdom’s right to defend itself under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Saudi Arabia said its air defences shot down six ballistic missiles launched towards Taif and Yanbu on Thursday; the Houthis separately claimed missile and drone attacks on a “sensitive target” in Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu. French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would send soldiers, radars and defence systems to protect Yanbu. AFP tallied at least 150 Houthi and government-aligned fighters killed in Yemen in the 24 hours before Friday. UNHCR reported more than 230,000 people displaced since September began, in addition to 5.2 million already displaced.
