Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and TĂĽrkiye agreed on Monday to activate the Makkah Alliance for Defense's operational frameworks, pledging to rapidly deploy military contingents and strategic capabilities to the Kingdom after an emergency defense summit in Riyadh.
What led to the activation of the Makkah Alliance collective defense agreement?
The emergency convening of the alliance's Strategic-Political and Defense Committee followed a wave of cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi urban centers, energy infrastructure, and religious sites. In a joint declaration, representatives from all three member states strongly condemned attempted strikes near Makkah and Medina, affirming that an attack on any member constitutes a threat to their shared collective security.
Under the activated provisions, Pakistan and TĂĽrkiye will deploy designated armed forces and military assets to Saudi Arabia, operating within national legislative frameworks and agreed trilateral protocols to reinforce air defense, deterrence, and territorial protection across the Kingdom.
Who is Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood and what is the role of the new secretariat?
To oversee the operationalization of the pact, the committee appointed retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood of Pakistan as the alliance's first Secretary-General for a three-year term. General Mahmood, a former commander of the Pakistan Army's XI Corps and ex-President of the National Defence University in Islamabad, will head the newly created General Secretariat headquartered in Riyadh.
In his new capacity, General Mahmood is tasked with coordinating joint defense planning, facilitating inter-service interoperability, and establishing unified command protocols among the Saudi, Pakistani, and Turkish armed forces. Senior military planning committees are currently meeting in Riyadh to finalize force structures, rules of engagement, and deployment schedules.
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