Syria to send 3,000 troops to Saudi Arabia and Yemen to fight Houthis

The deployment

Syria is set to send about 3,000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia and Yemen to back the Yemeni government and its Saudi ally against the Houthis, according to Yemeni officials who spoke to AFP. Yemeni government circles told N-tv that the troops would join the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The arrangement was approved during a visit to Riyadh by Syria's transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in the week of 2 November 2026, when the two governments signed cooperation agreements including a defence pact. Riyadh is a principal supporter of the Syrian government, which came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Syria's defence ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment, and Saudi Arabia has not reacted to the announcement.

Phased rollout

The deployment is described as the first foreign one on this front since hostilities resumed in July. A source in the Yemeni Defence Ministry told AFP that the first phase covers 3,000 Syrian military personnel, including officers and experts, out of 10,000 planned in total. Technical teams from the Syrian and Saudi defence ministries are in Riyadh to finalise the plan, that source said. Hundreds of Syrian soldiers are already stationed on both sides of the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, according to the same source and three separate military sources who spoke anonymously. Syrian troops on the Yemeni side direct drone operations against the Houthis, one military source said, while Syrian soldiers in the kingdom train government forces in the south to use drones.

First phase3,000

Total planned10,000

First phase

3000 personnel

Total planned

10000 personnel

Data from the article text

Background to the Houthi war

The war in Yemen broke out in 2014, and the Iran-backed Houthis have been fighting Yemeni government forces supported by Saudi Arabia. Hostilities resumed in July after a ceasefire over the summer failed. In September the Houthis took control of large parts of the Red Sea coast, threatening Saudi Arabia's exports, and since October they have carried out near-daily attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and airports. Riyadh asked its allies for help, and the United States has so far declined those appeals, while Egypt has recently committed to provide military aid. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia after his fall in December 2024, and the Syrian government that replaced him is now backing Riyadh.

Houthi claims of Saudi strikes

On Saturday, 7 November, the Houthis reported Saudi airstrikes that killed 22 people and injured 30 in Sanaa province. The Houthi news agency Saba said most of the victims were women and children, and the Houthi broadcaster Al-Masirah gave the same death toll. The Houthis blamed the Saudi air force for the strikes on the Al-Scharija area. No independent confirmation of these figures was available, and neither Damascus nor Riyadh had publicly responded to the Houthi claims at the time of reporting.