Egyptian Foreign Minister says country's military is helping Saudi Arabia defend 'sensitive' sites

Egypt has deployed its forces in Saudi Arabia to defend its ally against attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the country's Foreign Minister said.

The Egyptian parliament voted last month in favour of deploying troops in Saudi Arabia after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s surprise announcement on October 17 that Cairo was prepared to help the kingdom militarily if asked.

Mr Abdelatty's comments, made to France 24 television in an interview aired on Tuesday night, were his country's first official confirmation that Egyptian troops and weapons were already on Saudi soil. Saudi Arabia has yet to publicly comment on Egypt's offer of help or the subsequent deployment.

The Egyptian minister said his country's military had deployed "mainly for defensive objectives to defend sensitive sites, including holy sites and others". He was alluding to Islam's holiest shrines in Makkah and Madinah.

"We already have a military presence there (in Saudi Arabia) at the request of our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia to help; and we are strengthening that."

The minister did not say how many Egyptian soldiers were already on Saudi soil or specify which weapons had been deployed, but sources briefed on the matter said they numbered in the hundreds.

They said that alongside troops, Egypt deployed armour, anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-surface missiles. The anti-aircraft batteries, they said, included the Amoun, a short-to-medium range air-defence system suited to intercepting of low flying missiles or drones.

'Mission to defend Saudi Arabia'

“The mission is for the Egyptian force to defend Saudi Arabia and not attack the Houthis, but it’s also authorised to defend itself if attacked,” said one of the sources.

Saudi Arabia, bound to Egypt by historical ties, has faced repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, targeting airports, oil facilities and military sites.

Egypt, which has an army rated to be the largest in the region, is known to have provided military aid, albeit on a small scale, to several of its traditional allies in the Gulf region.

Its help followed attacks by Iran on its Arab neighbours after war broke out between Iran and the US and Israel in February.

The latest attacks on Saudi Arabia coincided with the eruption of fighting in Yemen between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, with the escalation threatening to completely choke oil ⁠supplies and trigger a broader conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the request of the internationally recognised government, after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and most of the country's north. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 helped maintain a fragile peace between the warring sides.

Last month, however, the coalition resumed its military campaign in Yemen in support of the internationally recognised government, seeking to reverse the Houthis’ advances, after the rebels moved along the Red Sea coast towards the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait.