(Photo credit: Adobe Stock Photo)The Cradle
OCT 8, 2026
Turkish media reports that Syrian army fighters have also been deployed to back Saudi Arabia’s proxies inside Yemen
Pakistani fighter jets have been attacking Ansarallah-led Yemeni army forces following the activation this week of a defense pact between Riyadh, Islamabad, and Ankara, reports on 7 and 8 October said.
“Pakistan Air Force fighter jets were being used in strikes” this week against the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), a senior Pakistani military official told the New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday.
Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told CNN that Islamabad’s forces are in the kingdom. “The forces of Pakistan are already there. That I can share with you,” he said.
At least 8,000 Pakistani troops have been deployed to Saudi Arabia this year as part of the defense pact, as well as fighter jets, Reuters reporting from earlier this year had already confirmed.
The New Arab cited experts as saying this week that “Pakistan could concentrate on territorial defense and military support inside Saudi Arabia, while Turkey provides capabilities including surveillance, air defense and drones.”
According to the Turkiye Gazetesi, more than 200 military personnel, along with significant quantities of Turkish electronic warfare systems and ground- and air-defense missiles, have been transferred to Saudi Arabia since the Mecca pact was formed.
Turkish defense systems are reportedly being used extensively against Ansarallah and enhance the Saudi-backed Yemeni army’s combat capabilities.
The Turkish report also says hundreds of Syrian army fighters have been deployed to the Saudi-backed side in Yemen.
Meanwhile, it claims the “Shia front has become active,” and that fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran have been entering Yemen to join the Ansarallah-led side.
The report coincides with a heavy Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) retaliatory campaign of missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia’s military and energy sites.
Aramco infrastructure, including refineries and storage sites, as well as military bases and sites inside the kingdom that are used to attack Yemen, have been repeatedly targeted in recent days.
Heavy clashes inside Yemen are ongoing as well, as Ansarallah-led forces clash with the kingdom’s proxies in a bid to expel the Saudi-led coalition from the country.
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