Malaysia to follow UN decision on any Malbatt deployment to Yemen, says defence minister

Malaysia will be guided by any decision made by the United Nations should there be a proposal to deploy the Malaysian Battalion peacekeeping force to Yemen amid the ongoing conflict there, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

First Published: Sunday, 20 Sep 2026 4:01 PM MYT

KOTA TINGGI, Sept 20 — Malaysia will be guided by any decision made by the United Nations (UN) should there be a proposal to deploy the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) peacekeeping force to Yemen amid the ongoing conflict there, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.

Mohamed Khaled, who is also Kota Tinggi MP, said Malaysia would not make such a decision unilaterally, stressing that any action must be based on a UN decision.

“Malaysia’s decision will be guided by the decision made by the UN, rather than us acting on our own.

“So it has to be the UN that decides whether to send a peacekeeping force or whatever,” he told reporters after attending the Kota Tinggi parliamentary constituency-level Maulidur Rasul celebration here today.

Mohamed Khaled said peacekeeping forces were normally deployed after parties to a conflict had agreed to a peace settlement, with the forces tasked with ensuring that the terms of the settlement were observed by all parties.

He cited the deployment of peacekeeping forces in Lebanon as an example, saying their role was to ensure that the terms of the peace settlement were respected.

However, he said the situation in Yemen was different as the conflict and fighting were still ongoing.

“The UN has never deployed any force to take part in a war. This is a conflict; a war is still going on,” he said.

He said deploying forces while the war was still ongoing could expose personnel to the risk of losing their lives.

“If you go into the middle of it, there will be casualties and loss of life,” he said.

As such, he said there was no question of Malaysia unilaterally deploying troops to Yemen and that any decision would have to await a UN determination.

The development comes amid a recent escalation in Yemen, with intense fighting along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait forcing more than 100,000 people to flee their homes. — Bernama