Pakistan has acknowledged that its soldiers are deployed inside Saudi Arabia, a disclosure made as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue launching cross-border attacks on the kingdom.
"The forces of Pakistan are already there. That I can share with you," Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who heads the Pakistani military's media wing, said in an exclusive CNN interview on Wednesday.
Chaudhry did not say how many troops are involved or what they are capable of, stating that such information is classified.
His confirmation followed by only a few days an agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for the swift deployment of forces, arranged under a mutual defense treaty the countries had just concluded.
According to Saudi officials, Houthi attacks over the preceding two days killed three people at Abha International Airport, which lies close to the Yemeni border, and at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
The strikes illustrate how the war is spreading onto Saudi soil as Riyadh expands its backing for the Yemeni government's military campaign, Egypt Independent reported.