Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold an urgent meeting of their chiefs of staff, announced by the Saudi foreign ministry, to discuss ways to back Riyadh in the escalation with Yemen’s Houthis.

The barrage of ballistic missiles and drones against Saudi targets, which included the holy city of Mecca, is testing the mutual defence pact signed in August with Turkey and Pakistan. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement states that an armed attack against one of the three countries is considered an attack against all of them.