Syria denies sending troops to Yemen despite deployment reports
Yemeni officials told AFP that up to 3,000 Syrian soldiers are heading to Yemen and some are already there; Damascus says no forces have been sent "at this time".
Syria's government denied on Saturday that it had sent troops to Yemen, after Yemeni officials told the AFP news agency that thousands of Syrian soldiers were set to deploy to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with some already on the ground.
Syria's state SANA news agency quoted a diplomatic source saying Damascus had not sent forces to Yemen "at this time". The same source said the agreement signed with Riyadh this week "focuses on training military forces and building their capabilities", and that coordination visits to Syria would take place next month. The cooperation, the source said, could later develop into a mutual defence agreement or into Syria joining the Mecca alliance.
Earlier, three Yemeni military sources and a defence official told AFP that hundreds of Syrian troops had already deployed to both sides of the border. A source from Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, the country's top governing body, said as many as 3,000 Syrian troops would be sent to help fend off the Houthis, an arrangement it said was approved during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh this week.
A high-level source in Yemen's defence ministry put the first phase at about 3,000 troops, some already in place, and said the total could reach 10,000. Syrian soldiers already on the Yemeni side of the border are leading drone operations against the Houthis in the area, one military official told AFP. Technical teams from the Syrian and Saudi defence ministries were in Riyadh putting the final touches to the arrangements, according to the defence ministry source.
Saudi Arabia has been pressing allies for help since the Houthis, an Iran-backed group, stepped up attacks on the kingdom. Fatal strikes forced Riyadh airport to close for two weeks, and the group recently seized stretches of Red Sea coastline from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Aden.
Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad signed a defence pact in Mecca in August under which an attack on one country is treated as an attack on all three. Syria's top diplomat said last week that Damascus was weighing whether to join it. Egypt's parliament has approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's request to allow defensive military support for Saudi Arabia if requested. France is sending troops to help shield a key Saudi oil terminal, and Britain said in October it would deploy fighter planes.
Yemen's war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, and a Saudi-led coalition entered a year later. Fighting resumed across the country this summer after a four-year truce collapsed.
How the reports differ
Ahram Online led with the denial, reporting that a Syrian diplomatic source quoted by the state agency SANA said Damascus had not sent troops to Yemen "at this time". Al-Monitor's headline carried the deployment plan itself, sourced to Yemeni officials through AFP, with no mention of the denial. Bangkok Post ran the AFP report at length, including the 3,000 figure from the Presidential Leadership Council source and the 10,000 ceiling given by a defence ministry source, with the SANA denial further down the story. None of the reports named the Yemeni officials or the Syrian diplomatic source they quoted.
Watch
China urges Iran talks as Saudi strike hits Yemen's Houthi-held port
Wang Yi tells Iran's security council deputy in Beijing that negotiation is the only path, as Houthi attacks disrupt flights from Saudi airports.
UN rights chief demands probe into Yemeni staffer's death in Houthi custody
Mohammad el Shami was held since June 2024, and his family learned of his death more than a month after it happened, the UN office says.
Turkey's parliament ratifies Mecca defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
Lawmakers voted 279 to 119 for the 16-clause agreement signed on 7 August; Ankara says no Turkish troops will fight in Yemen.
Saudi Aramco profit rises a third despite attacks on oil sites
Higher crude prices and a joint venture stake sale lifted third-quarter earnings, with France 24 putting net profit at $36.25bn as attacks disrupted exports.
Israel's Herzog hands Eisenkot mandate to form government
The former military chief has 28 days to assemble a coalition after the October 27 election left neither his bloc nor Benjamin Netanyahu's with a majority.
Trump says Iran strikes 'highly unlikely' if talks progress
Both sides report new attacks on shipping in and near the Strait of Hormuz while Qatar keeps mediating an end to the war.
Iran executes three men over January protest unrest
The judiciary says the men were convicted of armed attacks in Karaj, while a rights group puts the number executed over the January protests at 39.
Two trains collide south of Cairo, killing four and injuring 88
The transport ministry says a train bound for Fayum struck the rear of an Aswan-bound service at Al Ayyat in Giza province, and one of the two derailed.