RIYADH/SANAA/ADEN, Yemen/UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan and Türkiye will provide military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in Saudi Arabia in accordance with their commitments under the Mecca Alliance for Defense, the three countries said Monday, as Saudi Arabia faces escalating attacks from Yemen's Houthi group.

The decision was announced after an emergency meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee of the Mecca alliance in the Saudi capital Riyadh to address security threats facing Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement posted on the Saudi Ministry of Defense's official account on social media platform X.

The statement said the three countries condemned in the strongest terms the attempted targeting of Mecca and Madinah, as well as continuing attacks targeting cities and civilian and economic facilities in Saudi Arabia.

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The countries affirmed that the security of each party is an integral part of the collective security of the three, noting that translating the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement into practical measures would strengthen deterrence, military readiness and integration, the statement added.

The Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping in July and has since launched strikes on Saudi tankers and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on Aug 7 in the Saudi city of Mecca, which stipulates that an attack on any signatory will be considered an attack on all.

Yemen's Houthis claim strikes on multiple Saudi targets

Yemen's Houthi group said late Monday that it struck airports, an oil facility and military sites across Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones, while the Saudi-led coalition said it foiled a Houthi plot targeting southern Red Sea waterways.

In a statement broadcast by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group launched three operations on Saudi soil, the first targeting King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh.

The second targeted an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, a Red Sea coastal city in western Saudi Arabia, he said, claiming that the attack caused a fire.

The third struck Abha International Airport, King Khalid Air Base near Khamis Mushait, the Aqifa military camp in the southwestern Asir region, as well as other "vital sites" in Najran and Jazan, he added.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities, and the reported damage could not be independently verified.

Sarea said the operations were in response to "60 Saudi air and missile strikes over the past 24 hours" targeting Houthi-held areas in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government said that its naval forces had foiled a "plot for imminent attacks" targeting waterways in southern Red Sea during an operation in Yemen's western province of Hodeidah.

Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said on the social media platform X that the operation destroyed Houthi military targets, as well as weapons depots and storage facilities for explosive-laden boats and naval mines.

He said the operation was part of the coalition's efforts to safeguard maritime navigation in the Bab al-Mandab.

The Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping in July and has since launched strikes on Saudi tankers and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni govt forces claim retaking Mocha

Also on Monday, Yemeni government forces said they had retaken the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha in southwestern Taiz province from the Houthi group in what would reverse a major recent Houthi gain near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

A military source was quoted by the state-run Saba news agency as saying that the Nation's Shield Forces, the pro-government Giants Brigades and the Tihama Resistance, backed by airstrikes, entered Mocha after fierce fighting on the city's outskirts.

The source said an unspecified number of Houthi fighters were killed, wounded or captured in the fighting, while others fled.

ALSO READ: Saudi airstrikes reported on Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa

Government forces were carrying out clearing operations in the city and surrounding areas to secure their positions, the source added.

A Houthi military official on the ground told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that Saudi warplanes carried out scores of strikes on Houthi positions near Bab al-Mandab before government forces launched the offensive.

He estimated that more than 56 Houthi fighters were killed and dozens of others wounded.

However, a source on the ground disputed the government account, telling Xinhua that government forces had not taken control of Mocha or its port. The source described the announcement as a "premature" claim of victory and part of an escalating propaganda battle.

The Houthis seized Mocha in early September during a rapid advance that expanded their presence around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

If confirmed, the government's recapture of the port city would mark a significant shift in the battle on Yemen's southwestern coast.

Mocha lies on the Red Sea coast north of Bab al-Mandab, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden -- a critical artery for international shipping between Asia and Europe.

ALSO READ: Houthis say 26 Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen as govt forces step up operations

The fighting came amid a wider escalation across southwestern Yemen. The government said the advance was part of its "Operation Dawn of Yemen," a broader offensive aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory, including the capital Sanaa, with Saudi Arabia providing extensive air support.

Yemen's conflict broke out in late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country's north, forcing the internationally recognized government out of the capital. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government. The recent clashes marked the sharpest escalation since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities in the war-torn country.

UN chief voices deep concern over escalation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by increased fighting in Yemen and condemns Houthi attacks, a UN spokesperson said Monday.

"The secretary-general has wanted the sides to de-escalate tensions, and he continues to want that," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for Guterres.

The spokesperson added that Guterres does not believe that further militarization of the conflict, including involvement by outside powers, will be helpful.

The International Organization for Migration said more than 180,000 people have been displaced since Aug 1.