Published: · Region: Middle East · Category: geopolitics

Pakistan Reportedly Joins Saudi Air Campaign Against Houthis With Fighter Jet Strikes

Pakistan has reportedly joined Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen’s Houthi movement, with a senior Pakistani officer saying its fighter jets are carrying out airstrikes, according to the New York Times. The move links Pakistan directly to the Saudi–Houthi conflict at a moment of renewed rocket fire on Riyadh and rising regional tension.

Pakistan is reportedly flying fighter jet missions in Saudi Arabia’s war against Yemen’s Houthis, pulling its air force into a conflict that has already shaken Gulf security.

According to the New York Times, a senior Pakistani military official said Pakistani aircraft have joined Saudi-led operations in Yemen and are conducting airstrikes on Houthi targets. The report describes Pakistan as having "joined" the Saudi campaign with fighter jet attacks, giving Riyadh fresh combat support in the air war.

The development comes as the Houthis continue to strike inside Saudi territory. In the capital, Riyadh, smoke columns were seen rising in several locations after what was described as a Houthi rocket attack, according to local visual reporting. Separately, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait and the Muslim World League condemned recent Houthi attacks on Abha and King Khalid international airports, and reaffirmed their backing for Saudi Arabia’s security and stability.

For people in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the combination of new Pakistani airstrikes and ongoing Houthi rocket and drone attacks means greater danger near airports, residential districts and infrastructure. Civil aviation hubs like Abha and King Khalid have again become contested spaces where passenger safety depends on whether air defenses intercept incoming fire. In Yemen, expanded Saudi and Pakistani air operations increase the risk that areas around suspected launch sites will be hit from the air.

Operationally, Pakistan’s reported role gives Saudi Arabia access to additional aircraft and air crews in a campaign that has stretched the kingdom’s own forces. Pakistani participation offers Riyadh another partner as it tries to suppress a Houthi arsenal that includes rockets and drones capable of reaching deep into Saudi territory.

The new layer of involvement also lands amid wider regional friction. The U.S. military has been ordered to prepare for possible renewed strikes on Iran, Axios reported, and planners expect any such operation could involve extensive U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran’s energy, infrastructure and nuclear sites. Against that backdrop, a Pakistani commitment to a Saudi-led campaign against an Iran-aligned group in Yemen adds another possible point of pressure in an already crowded regional battlefield.

What happens next will depend on how openly Islamabad acknowledges its role and how the Houthis respond. Clear public confirmation or denial from Pakistan, any evidence of Pakistani aircraft losses, and changes in the tempo or range of Houthi rocket fire on Saudi cities will show whether this remains a limited deployment or the start of a more entrenched Saudi–Pakistani military partnership in Yemen.

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