Syria is aiding Saudi Arabia with military advice and training as the kingdom comes under attack by Yemen's Houthis, and has sent a limited number of military personnel to Saudi Arabia, two Syrian military sources and a senior United States official told Reuters on Friday, 6 November.
The two Syrian sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, said scores of Syrian military personnel had gone to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. Advisory and training work was involved, they said, but their mandate could be broader. The senior US official said Syrian advisers and training teams — drawn from fighters battle-hardened in years of war — were travelling to the kingdom to help train Saudi and Yemeni units inside Saudi Arabia and improve their combat effectiveness.
Source: Reuters
A senior Syrian diplomat pushed back on the strongest reading of the reports, telling Reuters that “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 the Syrian-Saudi defence cooperation deal signed on Wednesday “specifically includes advisory support, training and exchange of expertise”.
A senior Saudi official told Reuters that the ongoing sharing of expertise 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 official added.
The advisory role flows from the defence pact the two countries signed on Wednesday, 4 November, during Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Riyadh — his second meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in less than a month. Awaaz Punjab reported the signing, and the more than $403 million in Saudi development loans that came with it, earlier this week. Read: Saudi-Syria defence agreement and $403 million loans
Why Riyadh is looking for help
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. Since the fighting 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, and Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes in support of its Yemeni allies — a direct safety concern for the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers who live and work across the kingdom and the Gulf.
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 Syria in the wider regional war — something it has so far avoided. The Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment, and neither did the Syrian Defence Ministry, the US State Department, Yemen's Saudi-backed government or the Houthis.
Source: Reuters
A wider alliance is taking shape
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. Its reconstituted military is made up of former rebels who fought for years against Assad and the Iran-backed groups that came to his aid. On Thursday, Turkey's parliament ratified — by 279 votes to 119, according to The Media Line — the 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. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, speaking at a recent conference in Bahrain, said discussions were under way to study Syria's entry into that pact, and said: “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.” Reuters reported in October that Syria was considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia, with options ranging from defensive aid to protect the kingdom from attacks to deploying forces in an offensive capacity alongside Saudi-backed Yemeni troops.
Source: The Media Line
Watch whether the advisory presence grows into a formal deployment, whether Syria moves toward joining the Mecca pact alongside Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, and how the Houthis respond. For now, both Damascus and Riyadh describe the work as advice, training and shared expertise — not combat troops.