The FINANCIAL — Pakistan is sending a “contingent of troops” to Saudi Arabia, the military announced late on February 15.
In a statement, the military’s press service said the troops are being sent on a “training and advise mission” as part of ongoing “bilateral security cooperation.”
It said the troops would not be deployed outside Saudi Arabia, according to RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal.
The news was announced after a meeting earlier on February 15 between Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Said al-Maliki in Rawalpindi, the city where the Pakistani military is headquartered.
Saudi Arabia has been demanding the deployment of Pakistani troops since the start of the Yemen conflict in 2015, despite Pakistan’s parliament adopting a resolution that same year declaring Islamabad’s “neutrality” in the conflict.
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran-allied Huthi rebels.
With reporting by Dawn and Samaa.tv
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