, Sept. 21 -- Six weeks after Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed a defense agreement in Mecca pledging to regard an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three, the escalating confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia is putting the commitment to its first major test.

Houthi forces have pushed along Yemen's western coast toward the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait while increasing missile and drone attacks against targets deep inside Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, in response, has stepped up airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen.

Tensions rose further after Saudi authorities said they had intercepted a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered the holy city's airspace. The Houthis denied that...