ISLAMABAD: Retired Pakistani Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood has been appointed the first secretary-general of the Makkah Alliance for Defense as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye move to implement their trilateral defense partnership.

The appointment was announced at an emergency meeting of the alliance’s Strategic-Political and Defense Committee in Riyadh on Oct. 5, where the three countries also agreed to prepare the military forces and capabilities envisaged under the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement for rapid deployment in Saudi Arabia.

Signed in Makkah on Aug. 7, 2026, the agreement commits the three countries to treat an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, marking one of the region’s most significant new collective security arrangements.

Mahmood, a retired three-star Pakistani general, brings nearly four decades of military experience spanning operational command, intelligence analyzes and strategic education to the role.

Commissioned into Pakistan Army’s Baloch Regiment in 1987, he rose through the ranks to command the Peshawar-based XI Corps, which oversees counter-insurgency operations along Pakistan’s northwestern border with Afghanistan. He also headed the Analysis Wing of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency before serving as president of the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad.

Masud Ahmed Khan, a Pakistani defense analyst who is a retired army brigadier, sees Mahmood’s experience in counterterrorism as particularly relevant to his new role.

“When we talk of his counter-terrorism operations, it is relevant when we think of his new appointment because he has been dealing with non-state actors like Fitna Al-Hindustan, Fitna Al-Khawarij operating from a safe haven inside Afghanistan and carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan,” Khan told Arab News, referring to the Baloch separatist militants and the Pakistani Taliban fighting Pakistani security forces and law enforcement in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

“Same is the case of Houthis, again non-state actors, a militia which is responsible for instability in the region. So, he has great experience and insight into countering these terrorist-related challenges.”

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. At Monday’s meeting in Riyadh, Pakistani, Saudi and Turkish officials condemned the continuing attacks targeting cities and civilian and economic facilities in Saudi Arabia, reaffirming their unequivocal rejection of any attack or threat against the Kingdom’s security and territorial integrity.

“Mahmood also attended Command and Staff College in Egypt,” Khan said. “He understands the security and defense dynamics of Arab world as well as the West Asia.”

Syed Muhammad Ali, a Pakistani security expert, said Mahmood’s background combined operational command with intelligence assessment and military education, suiting him to the alliance’s formative stage.

“He brings forth three unique attributes based on his leadership role in leading and commanding the Peshawar Corps, which is spearheading Pakistan Army’s counter-terrorism effort against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” Ali said.

“Secondly, he has headed Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency’s analysis wing, which makes him the most suitable person to analyze the changing and complex strategic environment in the Middle East.”

Ali noted that Mahmood had led Pakistan’s premier defense, intellectual and academic forum, the National Defense University (NDU), where “war games are organized, and the future military leadership of Pakistan is groomed.”

However, the challenge now for Mahmood is to translate political understanding among the three countries into practical military coordination, including making a doctrine, training of personnel and ensuring interoperability, according to analysts.

Ali said the alliance was “fast taking shape” and that its structure would evolve as the three countries sought to combine their military experience and capabilities.

“And in days to come, we’ll see evolution of new doctrine, interoperability, training, and command-control structure, which will allow the three countries to synergize their experiences, capabilities, and collectively surmount the threat and challenges that they face,” he said.

The significance of Mahmood’s job lies in helping give institutional form to an alliance whose members face different but increasingly interconnected security challenges.

Khan believed Mahmood was the right choice for the pioneering role.

“I think general is the best choice as far as this appointment is concerned and he will deliver and he will come up to the expectation of not only Pakistan, but the expectation of Makkah Joint Defense Agreement alliance countries,” he added.