Pakistan Air Force member seen at Saudi base near Yemen border

A photo released by Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry from a visit by its top military officer to King Khalid Air Base in the kingdom’s southwest appears to show a Royal Bahraini Air Force fighter pilot and a member of the Pakistan Air Force at the base, open-source analysts at OSINTWarfare pointed out in a post.

Gen. Fayyadh Al-Ruwaili, chief of the general staff, visited military units in the southern region, units deployed along the border with Yemen and military commands in Khamis Mushait and Jazan, where he received briefings on operational missions, the Saudi Defense Ministry announced. The ministry’s statement did not mention any foreign personnel, and neither Bahrain nor Pakistan has commented on the image.

According to OSINTWarfare, the photo shows a Bahraini officer with the rank of major wearing the patch of the Royal Bahraini Air Force’s 1st Tactical Fighter Squadron, known as the Desert Falcons, on his right shoulder. The squadron flies F-16C/D fighters from Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain and is responsible for defending Bahraini airspace, and the analysts said it has not previously been publicly known to have taken part in operations abroad. A Pakistan Air Force member can be seen in the background, identifiable by his uniform, they added, though the image does not show whether the personnel are deployed to the base, how many are there or what aircraft, if any, they brought.

King Khalid Air Base sits outside Khamis Mushait in Asir province and is the main Royal Saudi Air Force hub for the southern border with Yemen, an area that has been under fire this autumn as Houthi missile and drone attacks in September struck targets in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait and Saudi Arabia resumed its air war against the Iran-backed group.

Bahrain sent F-16s to fight alongside Saudi Arabia when it joined the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in 2015, and on Dec. 30 that year a Royal Bahraini Air Force F-16 crashed in Jazan province while flying for the coalition, with the pilot surviving. Bahraini officials did not say at the time which squadron the aircraft belonged to.

Pakistani fighter and support aircraft arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Province in April under the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement the two countries signed in September 2025, and a senior Pakistani military official told The New York Times this month that Pakistan Air Force jets are being used in strikes against Yemen’s Houthis. Analysts estimate about 8,000 Pakistani troops have deployed to the kingdom, including air force and army air defense units.

Britain said on Oct. 20 that Royal Air Force Typhoons will fly defensive patrols over Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye is preparing to send personnel under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement it signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August, pending approval by its parliament.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have not said whether Bahraini F-16s are operating from King Khalid Air Base or flying missions over Yemen.