Syrian troops joining fight vs Houthis
Syria would send as many as 3,000 troops to help fend off the Houthis.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with some already on the ground, multiple Yemeni officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP), as Riyadh rallies international help to repel the Houthis and bolster the government in Aden.
It came after the two countries signed cooperation agreements this week including a defense deal, with Syria considering joining the recently enacted mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan.
Hundreds of Syrian troops have already been deployed to both sides of the border, according to three separate Yemeni military sources and a defense official, with more to come.
Later on Saturday, Syria's official SANA news agency cited a diplomatic source who insisted Damascus had not sent troops to Yemen "at this time."
However, a source from the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen's top governing body, told AFP that Syria would send as many as 3,000 troops to help fend off the Houthis.
The arrangement was greenlit during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh this week, during which the two countries agreed to various deals, according to the PLC source.
"Syria is a long way from Yemen, but shares Ryadh's interest in containing the influence of the Iran-allied axis in the region," said Noah Bonsey of the International Crisis Group.
Later, a high-level Yemeni defense ministry source told AFP that while the first phase would involve around 3,000 troops, with some already in place, as many as 10,000 could eventually be deployed.
Those already stationed on the Yemeni side of the border at the moment are leading drone operations against the Houthis in the area, one of the military officials told AFP.
The kingdom — a key backer of Syria's post-Assad government in place since late 2024 — has been pressing allies for help as it comes under daily fire from the Iran-backed group that recently seized swaths of the Red Sea coastline from the Riyadh-backed government.
The Houthis have ramped up attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks, forcing Riyadh airport to close for two weeks after fatal strikes there and threatening Saudi Arabia's vast economic diversification plans.
According to the Yemeni defense ministry source, technical teams from the Syrian and Saudi defense ministries are currently in Riyadh putting the final touches on arrangements for Syrian forces to take part in operations against the Houthi militias.
Meanwhile, Houthi authorities said on Sunday that Saudi strikes killed 33 people, many of them women and children, in Yemen's Sanaa province, as deaths mount in the country's revived civil war.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in the impoverished country.
The death toll from the Saudi-led coalition's strikes on Al-Shariya village located east of Yemen's capital Sanaa has risen to 33, with 39 people wounded, Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said in a post on X.