Pakistan Could Be Drawn Into Yemen War by Troop Deployment to Saudi Arabia, Dawn Warns
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper warned in a recent editorial that approval of the deployment of troops from the “Makkah Defence Alliance” to Saudi Arabia could pave the way for the direct entry of Pakistan or Turkey into the Yemen war, a move it said would be hasty and costly.
According to Dawn, the decision was finalized after a joint meeting of senior officials from Riyadh, Islamabad and Ankara, and indicates that Saudi Arabia and its allies are preparing military infrastructure to confront Yemen’s Ansarullah movement directly, a development that could alter the security balance in the Red Sea and the Middle East.
Dawn said that under the three-way agreement, the rapid deployment of forces has been defined as “collective defence” and the “protection of the holy cities of Hijaz,” something Islamabad has in recent years regarded as part of its traditional commitments to Saudi Arabia’s security.
However, the newspaper stressed that military involvement in Yemen’s civil war would be different from past experience. Dawn recalled that Pakistan’s parliament in 2015, in what it called a “wise and responsible” decision, refused to take part in the Yemen war and prevented the country from being trapped in a complex and draining crisis.
In the view of the editorial writer, the current situation is not significantly different from 2015, and Islamabad should, while remaining committed to Saudi Arabia’s security, refrain from sending troops into Yemeni territory.
Referring to the escalation of fighting in recent weeks and the reduced likelihood of a ceasefire, Dawn wrote that US and Israeli attacks in previous years had also failed to curb Ansarullah’s operational capabilities, and that continuing this trend would only lead to the expansion of the war and more civilian casualties.
To prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” and the spillover of the crisis across the region, the newspaper called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and added that countries such as Oman, which have effective channels of communication with both sides, could play a key role in mediation.
Dawn concluded by saying the main conditions for a lasting ceasefire are an end to attacks on Saudi territory, guarantees of freedom of navigation in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, an end to foreign attacks on Yemen, and the return of all sides to the Yemeni-Yemeni political process. It stressed that only broad dialogue among Yemeni groups can ensure lasting peace and regional security.
