By Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey
RIYADH, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Syria is aiding Riyadh with military advice and training as Saudi Arabia comes under attack by Yemen’s Houthis, and has sent a limited number of military personnel to the kingdom, two Syrian military sources and a senior US official said.
Saudi Arabia has been locked in worsening hostilities with the Iran-allied Houthis since July, when the Yemen war was reignited by the wider conflict in the Middle East, leading Riyadh to seek both defensive and offensive support from a range of allies.
The senior US official said advisers and training teams from Syria – where fighters became battle-hardened in years of war – were travelling to Saudi Arabia to help train Saudi and Yemeni units inside the kingdom to improve their combat effectiveness.
The two Syrian sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, said scores of military personnel had gone from Syria to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. They said advisory and training work was involved, but that their mandate could be broader.
In response to a request for comment, a senior Syrian diplomat said “any suggestion of military deployments at this stage is premature”, and that Syria’s focus remained on internal security, protecting its borders and reconstruction.
The diplomat said a Syrian-Saudi defense cooperation deal signed on Wednesday “specifically includes advisory support, training and exchange of expertise”.
A senior Saudi official told Reuters that ongoing expertise sharing with Syria was “mainly to restructure the Syrian forces … but that doesn’t mean also our Syrian partners don’t help us in their combat experience regarding fighting militias”.
Joint training exercises were under way and more were planned in both security and defence, the Saudi official added in response to a request for comment.
Saudi Arabia and Syria signed the defense pact on Wednesday during a visit to Riyadh by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, his second meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in less than a month.
No details were announced.
Washington has urged Damascus to move cautiously, the senior US official said, adding that any Syrian deployment to help in the Yemen war risked embroiling the country in the wider war in the region — something it has avoided.
The Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the Syrian Defence Ministry, the US State Department, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government or the Houthis.
MECCA PACT
Syria has emerged as a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States since rebels led by Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran, in 2024.
Syria’s reconstituted military is made up of former rebels who fought for years against Assad and Iran-backed groups that went to help him against the insurgents.
Turkey, a close ally of Damascus, on Thursday ratified a defence pact signed in Mecca in August between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, clearing the way for Ankara to send military support to Riyadh.
The senior Syrian diplomat said the Saudi-Syrian “agreement may evolve to include broader defence cooperation in the future, such as” the Mecca pact.
The deal signed on Wednesday was a “broad framework for military cooperation”, among a number of other deals and memorandums of understanding related to other sectors including finance and agriculture, the senior Syrian diplomat said.
The Saudi Fund for Development signed six agreements with Syria’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday for the provision of concessional development loans worth over $403 million to support development and service sectors in Syria.
They provide a critical lifeline for a country that has struggled to revive its economy and faces a reconstruction bill in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Since the Yemen war restarted, the Houthis have seized territory from Yemeni government control in some areas while the government has made small gains in others. The Houthis have fired missiles at Saudi airports and oil facilities, while Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes in support of its Yemeni allies.
Reuters reported in October that Syria was considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia and that options being considered included defensive aid to protect the kingdom from attacks, or deployment of forces in an offensive capacity to help Saudi-backed Yemeni troops fight the Houthis.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, speaking at a recent conference in Bahrain, said discussions were under way to study Syria’s entry into the Mecca pact.
“Syria considers the security of the Arab Gulf part of regional security … Syria stands by the people and the governments of the Gulf in the face of challenges and militias operating across borders,” he said.
(Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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