Field Marshal Asim Munir has directed Pakistani military forces to take part in operations supporting Saudi Arabia against Houthi rebels along the Saudi-Yemen border. Pakistan Air Force jets reportedly carried out strikes on Houthi advances, while more than a brigade of troops and a squadron of JF-17 fighter jets have been positioned in Saudi Arabia under the recently signed tripartite Mecca Joint Defence Agreement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The moves occurred without reference to Pakistan’s National Assembly.

Turkish forces are not known to have troops or equipment present in Saudi Arabia as part of the same agreement. Control of the deployment rests with Munir, who holds authority over the three armed services following the 27th Constitutional Amendment of November 2025. That change established the office of Chief of Defence Forces and ended the previous Joint Chiefs of Staff position. Although the President remains the formal supreme commander, operational command of air and ground assets lies with Munir.

The intervention echoes an earlier episode in which then-Brigadier Zia ul-Haq, serving as a military adviser in Jordan, became involved in the suppression of a Palestinian uprising against the Jordanian monarchy in September 1970. Both officers share origins in Jullundur. Pakistan maintains the world’s second-largest Shia population, with substantial numbers serving in its armed forces.

During earlier deployments of an armoured brigade group in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, Riyadh requested the removal of Shia officers and troops. Pakistani commanders resisted the demand, citing risks to unit cohesion if soldiers were separated by sect within complete formations. The present placement puts forces in an active conflict zone where the opposing sides are defined along sectarian lines, presenting continued challenges for a mixed-composition military.