Sources say Syrian personnel deployed in Yemen and Saudi Arabia

Nieuws.nl, citing AFP, reported that thousands of Syrian personnel are being deployed in Yemen and Saudi Arabia to help fight the Houthis. Yemeni military sources told AFP that hundreds were already deployed on both sides of the border, with a substantial increase expected later.

The reported reinforcements are intended in part to help Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, based in Aden. The Houthis control large areas of Yemen and have also attacked Saudi Arabia.

A separate Reuters report on 6 November described a smaller Syrian presence in Saudi Arabia. Two Syrian military sources said dozens of personnel had travelled to the kingdom in recent weeks for advisory and training work, although their role could be broader. A senior US official told Reuters that Syrian advisers and training teams were travelling to help train Saudi and Yemeni units inside the kingdom.

That account did not establish a Syrian presence in Yemen or the hundreds of personnel on both sides of the border described in the AFP report. It was published a day earlier.

A senior Syrian diplomat told Reuters that any suggestion of military deployments at that stage was “premature”. The diplomat said a defence cooperation agreement signed by Syria and Saudi Arabia on 4 November included advice, training and the exchange of expertise.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that military cooperation was among several areas covered by agreements signed during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Riyadh.