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Thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and some are already there, several Yemeni officials told AFP. Damascus rejected the reports on Saturday, with a Syrian diplomatic source calling them unfounded.
The deployment would support a Saudi-led push to repel the Iran-backed Houthis and strengthen Yemen’s government in Aden. Hundreds of Syrian personnel have already been sent to both sides of the Saudi-Yemeni border, according to three separate Yemeni military sources and a defense official.
A source from the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen’s top governing body, said Syria would send around 3,000 troops. “The Syrian side and the Saudi side agreed to send around 3,000 troops to fight against the Houthis,” said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The arrangement was approved during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Riyadh this week, where the two countries signed cooperation agreements, including a defense deal. A separate source at Yemen’s Defense Ministry said the first phase would cover about 3,000 Syrian fighters, including officers and experts, some of whom are already in the field.
The same source said the plan envisions more than 10,000 fighters in total, with the rest to follow in later stages. Technical teams from the Syrian and Saudi defense ministries are in Riyadh finalizing the arrangements, the source added, and a defense agreement between the two ministries provides the legal framework.
One of the military officials said Syrian personnel already stationed on the Yemeni side of the border are leading drone operations against the Houthis in the area.
A Syrian diplomatic source told state news agency SANA on Saturday that reports Syria had sent troops to Yemen “at this time are entirely unfounded.” The source said Damascus was focused on domestic matters. Multiple Yemeni sources told AFP the same day that Syrian troops were already in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The reported deployment would make Syrians the first foreign troops on the ground in the Yemen conflict since fighting flared again this summer.
Saudi Arabia, a key backer of Syria’s post-Assad government, has been pressing allies for help as it comes under daily fire from the Houthis. The group has stepped up attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks after a truce collapsed over the summer. Strikes forced Riyadh’s airport to close for two weeks after fatal attacks there, and the violence threatens the kingdom’s economic diversification plans.
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