Fact-check: Video does not show Houthi rebels threatening Pakistan over Saudi defence pact

Shortly after Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a mutual defence pact on September 17, a video clip began circulating on Pakistani social media allegedly showing the Houthi rebels in Yemen threatening Pakistan for joining forces with Saudi Arabia.

The claim is false. The video is old and unrelated to Pakistan.

Claim

On September 19, a 32-second-video of a military officer in Yemen was shared on X.

“Breaking, tensions escalate after Pakistan sends 25,000 troops to the Saudi Yemen border under a new defence pact,” wrote one user. “Houthi fighters issued a stark threat, saying they will turn the Yemen Saudi border into a graveyard for Pakistani soldiers.”

The post has been viewed more than one million times to date.

Identical claims had also been shared here, here and here.

Fact

The video is from May 2024, long before the recent defence pact was signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The man seen in the video is Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for Yemen’s army and armed forces. In the original press conference, he is speaking about Gaza, not Pakistan.

Through a reverse image search, Geo Fact Check traced the video to a 31-minute press conference held by Brigadier General Yahya Saree on May 13, 2024.

The complete press conference, which is in Arabic, can be seen here and here.

The clip now circulating online was taken from the 29:24 timestamp, where Saree is in fact speaking about war crimes in Gaza. Geo Fact Check translated the subtitles using an online tool and found there was no mention of Pakistan at all.

Verdict: There is no evidence that Houthi forces or Yemeni officials have issued any threat against Pakistan in connection with the Saudi defence agreement as being claimed online.

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