▲ Pakistan Armed Forces (File Photo)
Pakistan has signaled a potential military intervention in Saudi Arabia to counter the offensive by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
According to the British daily The Telegraph on the 18th (local time), Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the chief military spokesperson for Pakistan, stated that Pakistan stands with Saudi Arabia not only diplomatically but also physically.
He emphasized the word physical, adding that Pakistan will go to any extent to defend Saudi Arabia against any aggression targeting the nation.
This marks a significant escalation compared to last week, when the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that it was not discussing any military response with Saudi Arabia.
The pro-Iran Houthi rebels have been stepping up their offensive, capturing Mocha, a key stronghold in western Yemen, within just a week, and seizing Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea.
They have also launched missile and drone strikes deep into mainland Saudi Arabia and are engaged in fierce ground combat with Saudi-backed government forces in areas such as Al-Wazyiah in Yemen's Taiz Governorate.
According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced more than 112,000 people in just the past two weeks.
Pakistan, the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed state, has already deployed an 8,000-strong ground force, a squadron of JF-17 fighter jets, drones, and HQ-9 air defense systems to Saudi Arabia in April of this year.
The ongoing war and the heightened offensive by the Houthi rebels are seen as the first major test for the Mecca Joint Defense Pact signed last month by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) charter, this pact defines an attack on one member as a subject for collective defense.
Facing the constant threat of airstrikes from Iran and missile and drone attacks from the Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia is in such a critical situation that its air defense missile stockpiles are at risk of depletion, prompting it to request air defense support from countries like France, the UK, and Egypt.
Junaid Ahmad, a scholar in Pakistan, told The Telegraph that neither Turkey nor Pakistan would voluntarily enter into a direct war with Iran, analyzing that the pact serves more as a political and security message directed at Iran rather than the prelude to a direct military presence.
In April 2015, during the early stages of the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia requested Pakistan to dispatch ground, naval, and air forces, but the plan fell through after the Pakistani parliament unanimously adopted a resolution rejecting the deployment following fierce debate.
At the time, the Pakistani government was concerned about sectarian conflict and social division with the Shia minority, which accounts for about 20 percent of the population, and sought to avoid diplomatic friction with neighboring Iran.
Consequently, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif maintained neutrality based on the parliament's non-binding resolution and declined to send troops.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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