{"id":838918,"date":"2026-11-12T02:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838918"},"modified":"2026-11-11T18:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T23:54:10","slug":"egypt-confirms-troops-and-air-defenses-in-saudi-arabia-for-months-and-says-the-force-will-not-enter-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838918","title":{"rendered":"Egypt confirms troops and air defenses in Saudi Arabia for months and says the force will not enter Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Egyptian<\/figure>\n

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who confirmed in a France 24 interview that Egyptian forces are in Saudi Arabia, in a file photograph released by the Egyptian State Information Service. Credit: Egyptian State Information Service (SIS), file photo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Egypt’s foreign minister confirmed in a France 24 interview this week that Egyptian troops and air defenses have been deployed in Saudi Arabia for months, and said they will not cross into Yemen.<\/p>\n

Badr Abdelatty said Egypt already has a military presence in Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi government and is strengthening it. He described the force as defensive, aimed at protecting Saudi security, and said its role is limited to air defense of sensitive sites, including holy sites. He said the force has no mission in Yemen.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian president announced the deployment on October 17, and parliament approved it on October 26. Some members of parliament told AFP they had received no details about the scale or size of the planned deployment. The National, citing unnamed sources, reported that it includes hundreds of troops with armored vehicles and air defense systems, a description neither Egypt nor Saudi Arabia has confirmed. Mereja Media found no Saudi government comment on the interview.<\/p>\n

The Houthi movement, which controls much of northern Yemen and has attacked ships near the Bab el Mandeb strait, reacted sharply. Its leader Mohammed Ali al Houthi said on October 27 that Egyptian support for Saudi Arabia amounted to a declaration of war, according to reports. Abdelatty played down that reaction in the interview and repeated that the deployment is defensive. The Houthi claims and any Saudi interception figures cited in Arabic reports have not been independently verified by Mereja Media.<\/p>\n

Egypt’s Red Sea concerns reach beyond Yemen. Cairo has been working to line up Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea behind the idea that Red Sea security belongs to the coastal states, a position that also faces Ethiopia’s push for sea access. In a letter this week, five U.S. senators wrote that Ethiopia and Egypt recently expelled each other’s diplomats, a claim Mereja Media has not been able to confirm with either government.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian statements are official claims, and the size of the force and its rules of engagement can only be checked through independent reporting or Saudi confirmation.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n