ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appointed retired lieutenant-general Nauman Mahmood as the head of a trilateral defense alliance with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Wednesday, as the three countries move to deepen security cooperation amid heightened regional tensions.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement in August, pledging to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three. It followed a separate bilateral mutual defense agreement between Islamabad and Riyadh in Sept. 2025. The full operational provisions of the agreements have not been made public.

Mahmood’s appointment comes as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis continue to attack Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones in a renewed escalation in the conflict in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition also said it intercepted a drone approaching restricted airspace near Makkah, which houses Islam’s holiest site. The Houthis denied targeting the city.

The renewed Saudi-Houthi confrontation has become another front in the wider war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in Feb. The Houthis have also advanced in recent weeks along Yemen’s Red Sea coast around the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait, raising fears about shipping and energy supplies already strained by disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Government of Pakistan is pleased to announce the appointment of Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood, Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military), (Retired), as the first Secretary General pursuant to Makkah Joint Defense Agreement,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Secretary General will lead the General Secretariat of the Alliance being established at Riyadh.”

Mahmood has previously commanded a key Pakistan Army corps in the country’s militancy-hit northwest and served as president of the National Defense University, according to the Pakistani military.

His appointment comes as the widening conflict in the Middle East brings Pakistan’s defense commitments to Saudi Arabia into sharper focus.

“Pakistan stands unwaveringly, shoulder to shoulder, with the Kingdom in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and the sanctity of Islam’s holiest sites,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in his message on Saudi National Day on Wednesday, condemning the recent Houthi attacks.

Sharif described Pakistan’s longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia as an increasingly strong strategic partnership, citing the two defense agreements. He did not announce a new deployment or specify whether Riyadh had requested military assistance or what action Pakistan might take.

“Today, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, this brotherhood is growing into an even stronger strategic partnership, underpinned by our shared commitment to peace, security and the unity of the Muslim Ummah. Together, we have proudly signed the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement and the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement,” Sharif said in his message.

Sharif’s remarks followed a meeting on Tuesday at the United Nations in which the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt affirmed Riyadh’s right to defend itself under international law while calling for a diplomatic resolution to the wider regional crisis.