Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on the “X” platform, “The emergency meeting of the Political and Defense Strategic Committee of the Mecca Defense Pact confirms the solidarity and standing of our countries as one to confront the sinful attacks that targeted the Kingdom and its sacred feelings, and to activate collective deterrence against these attacks, and against everyone who stands behind them, within the framework of Mecca Defense Alliance.
Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced its participation through air strikes with “100 combat aircraft” in the attack with the Yemeni government against the Houthis.
Deploying “military forces and capabilities” in Saudi Arabia
In a joint statement with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey announced today, Monday (October 5, 2026), that they will deploy “military forces and capabilities” in the Kingdom in light of the escalation between it and the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to a defense agreement signed about two months ago.
The three countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh “to discuss security developments and threats facing Saudi Arabia,” during which it was decided to “immediately move to the practical implementation of joint defense obligations, and take the necessary measures to provide the agreed-upon military forces and capabilities and quickly deploy them in the Kingdom... in a way that enhances readiness, military integration, and the collective ability to confront and respond to threats.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters after the emergency meeting of the committee, “We also discussed what could be done to resolve the issue peacefully through dialogue. Saudi Arabia has adopted a very constructive approach to resolving the issue,” referring to the confrontations with the Houthis.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey agreed to immediately move to the practical implementation of joint defense commitments and ensure the “speed of deployment” of forces and military capabilities agreed upon in Saudi Arabia.
In August, the three countries signed the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,” which included a clause that deemed an attack on any of them an attack on all of them. The joint statement was issued today, Monday, under the name “Mecca Defense Alliance,” a name adopted for the first time since the agreement.
The agreement, which was announced at the time, did not include specific details regarding the military obligations or defense pledges incurred by each country.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced on Monday its participation through air strikes in the attack against the Houthis, which was launched by the Yemeni government on Sunday (October 4, 2026).
Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the military coalition to support the government, said on the “X” platform on Monday that “one hundred fighter planes participated at dawn today in Operation ‘Yemen Dawn’,” in the first official announcement of his support for the current operation of government forces.
The spokesman added, "We provide air protection for the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and dealing with moving targets continues." "We destroyed 324 high-value targets with the launch of the operation," he said.
The forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed government announced the implementation of more than a thousand raids and the start of a “strategic attack” on Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis.
Government sources also said that Yemeni forces took control of Dhubab Airport, located in the west of Taiz Governorate, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, pointing out that they "cut off the road between Dhubab and Al-Mokha and tightened fire control over it."
But a military source in the Houthi group denied this and said that this was an attempt to hide what he described as "repeated failure and defeats" of the Saudi-backed forces.
It was not possible to verify the accuracy of the statements of both parties from independent sources.
The internationally recognized government announced on Sunday its intention to restore all areas controlled by the Houthis across the country since the start of the conflict in 2014.
In September, after fierce battles, the Houthis expanded their areas of control to include the entire western coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea, all the way to the area of the Bab al-Mandab Strait and its surrounding islands. It is a strategic corridor for oil exports, including Saudi Arabia.
In light of the field escalation, the Houthis on Monday warned civil aviation companies that Saudi Arabia's airspace was "unsafe," saying that it "will be a theater of operations for our forces."
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi side regarding the Houthi statement.
On Monday (October 5, 2026), the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), affiliated with the Houthis, quoted a military source as saying, “What the Saudi enemy media is promoting about fake advances towards the Dhubab area is baseless and an attempt to cover up their failure and repeated defeats.”
A government military source reported that government forces had regained areas surrounding Bab al-Mandab, southwest of Yemen, and were close to completely cutting off the Houthi group’s supply line to the Dhubab area, in a military move that has been taking place since the morning hours with intense air cover.
Yemeni military source: Government forces are advancing around Bab al-Mandab
The source told the German News Agency (DPA) that units of the Giants Brigades and the National Shield Forces, with the support of tribesmen, entered Dhubab Airport and the New Victory Road, after executing a detour behind the village of Al-Saqya, indicating that the forces carried out a precise ambush that led to the separation of the Houthi forces present in Bab al-Mandab from those present in the Dhubab area.
The source added that the joint forces were able to cut the road linking Al-Saqya and Al-Omari Camp, which, according to field information, led to the besieging of Houthi elements in the Bab Al-Mandab sector and Mayon Island. The source indicated that a number of Houthis were killed and a large number of them fled their positions, while the joint forces arrested a number of prisoners, pointing out that the joint forces are currently heading towards Al-Omari camp. The source confirmed the continuation of military operations on the west coast under air cover amid "a major advance of the joint forces and the surrender of many Houthi elements."
These developments come one day after the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, announced the start of military operations to restore the remainder of the republic’s lands and extend the authority of the state and its institutions over the entire national territory, following what he described as the exhaustion of opportunities for calm.
The East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia was halted after an attack
A source in the energy sector told Agence France-Presse on Monday that the transport of oil through the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia was halted again after the strategic facility was subjected to a new attack on Sunday. The source said, "The East-West pipeline was subjected to a new attack yesterday. A pumping station located in Khurais, east of Riyadh, was targeted. It had never been targeted before. The damage was severe, and pumping operations stopped again."
This strategic artery allowed Saudi Arabia to transfer its oil from the east of the kingdom to the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
This comes the day after the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen announced that they were targeting sites belonging to the giant Aramco oil company in Riyadh and the Khurais region in the east of the Kingdom, without specifying what it was.
The East-West pipeline has been subjected to repeated attacks since the outbreak of war in the Middle East on February 28 following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Last month, Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporting country in the world, closed this line, which extends for a distance of 1,200 kilometers, after it was targeted by attacks with drones launched from Iraq, according to Riyadh. The flow of oil through this line stopped from September 11 to 22, according to Kepler.
The East-West pipeline has become vital to Saudi oil trade after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war in the Middle East.
