Information ministry rejects report claiming 30,000 to 40,000 troops deployment in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday rejected a Reuters report claiming that Pakistan had deployed between 30,000 and 40,000 troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom.

In a fact-check post, the ministry said it has taken note of “speculative reports by Reuters” regarding the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. “Pakistan has already made Pakistan’s commitment to security of Haramain Sharifain and KSA abundantly clear, which is non-negotiable,” it said.

The ministry said, “the operational details of the actualisation of the collective deterrence are a matter of operational confidentiality and may not be made subject of media speculation.”

“It would be therefore prudent to avoid such highly speculative reports based on non-attributable and unknown sources,” it said. The ministry added that Reuters would be “better served to refer to official statements of MoFA and other authorities in this regard.”

Tweet by Fact Checker MoIB

“Queries if any may be referred to them instead of coming out with invented numbers and details,” it said.

Earlier, Reuters reported, citing a Pakistani official, that Islamabad had deployed between 30,000 and 40,000 troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom’s land borders and assist with drone and missile interceptions.

The report said the troops had arrived in waves beginning last year and also after the recent escalation.