Arab leaders have agreed to form a joint military force, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, announced on Sunday on the second and final day of the Arab League summit.
“The Arab leaders have decided to agree on the principle of a joint Arab military force,” Sisi said.
The decision was primarily aimed at fighting jihadis who have overrun swaths of Iraq and Syria and won a foothold in Libya, the Arab League chief, Nabil al-Arabi, said.
Arabi told the meeting on Sunday that the region was threatened by a destructive force that threatened “ethnic and religious diversity”, an apparent reference to Islamic State.
The summit also agreed that Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen would continue until Shia Houthi rebels “withdraw and surrender their weapons”.
A Saudi-led coalition began bombing Yemen on Thursday, saying it was targeting the Houthi movement and its allies, which include forces loyal to Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Arabi read a final summit communique outlining the leaders’ views. “Yemen was on the brink of the abyss, requiring effective Arab and international moves after all means of reaching a peaceful resolution have been exhausted to end the Houthi coup and restore legitimacy,” he said.
The Houthi movement began its offensive in September, seizing the capital, Sana’a, and later holding the country’s president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, under house arrest. The rebels ultimately took over government and forced Hadi to flee the country in recent days.
Speaking at the summit on Saturday, Hadi directly accused Iran of being behind the Houthi offensive, raising the spectre of a regional conflict. Iran and the Houthi movement deny that Tehran arms the rebels, but it has provided humanitarian and other aid.
Now in its fourth day, the Saudi-led campaign of air strikes has pushed Houthi rebels out of contested airbases and destroyed any fighter jets remaining in Yemen, the Saudi brigadier general Ahmed bin Hasan Asiri said.
The strikes also continued to target Scud missiles in Yemen, leaving most of their launching pads devastated, the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted Asiri as saying. He said, however, that the rebels may control more missiles. His account could not be immediately corroborated.
Pakistan dispatched a plane to the Yemeni city of Hodeida on Sunday, hoping to evacuate about 500 citizens, said Shujaat Azim, an adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister. Azim told state-run Pakistan Television more flights would follow as those controlling Yemen’s airports allowed them.
Egyptian military and security officials have said the proposed force announced on Sunday would be made of up to 40,000 elite troops based in either Cairo or Riyadh. It would be backed by fighter jets, warships and light armour.
It is unlikely, however, that all 22-member countries of the often-fractious Arab League will join the proposed force. Its creation has been a longtime goal that has eluded Arab states in the 65 years since they signed a rarely used joint defence agreement.