Syria is considering sending troops, including foreign jihadists, to help Saudi Arabia fight against Ansar Allah in Yemen, according to media reports, as Riyadh continues to seek international support for the war, which it reignited in July by bombing the Sanaa International Airport.
Reuters first reported that Syria, which is led by former al-Qaeda Commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, is considering providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia, which could range from “defensive aid” to actually sending troops to fight Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis.
A US official speaking to Reuters said that Saudi Arabia had requested that Syria send forces to fight Ansar Allah. The report came a day after Sharaa, formerly known by his al-Qaeda nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
Shortly after Reuters published the report, Axios released its own report citing a US official who said the issue of troops came up during the meeting in Riyadh and that Sharaa was highly likely to agree to the Saudi request. MbS played a major role in normalizing Sharaa as Syria’s leader, including by arranging the first meeting between Sharaa and President Trump.
Both reports said that US officials were concerned that introducing Syrian troops could inject a religious element since many Sunni Islamists, including foreign jihadists, make up the ranks of the new Syrian military following the regime change that ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, while Ansar Allah is a Zaydi Shia movement.
The Axios report cited another source who said that 10,000 to 20,000 fighters could be sent to fight in Yemen and that one unit under consideration includes thousands of foreign jihadists who fought under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaeda offshoot that Sharaa led to power in Damascus.
Ansar Allah has a history of fighting against al-Qaeda in Yemen, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and the US had briefly cooperated with the group against AQAP after it took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 by providing intelligence. But in March of 2015, the US backed a Saudi-led coalition against Ansar Allah.
US weapons sold to Saudi Arabia and the UAE throughout the conflict ended up in the hands of militants linked to AQAP, according to a 2019 report from CNN, and the coalition was known to recruit al-Qaeda fighters in southern Yemen to fight against Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis.
