Syria is assisting Saudi Arabia with military consulting and training in the war against Houthi rebels and has even sent a limited number of military personnel to the kingdom. This was reported by two Syrian military sources and a senior American official to Reuters. The American official added that advisers and training teams from Syria traveled to the kingdom to help train Saudi and Yemeni units to improve their operational effectiveness. The two Syrian sources said that dozens of military personnel moved to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks for this purpose, but it is possible that the mandate of their activity is broader. A senior Syrian diplomat said in response to the report that 'any hint of military deployment at this stage is premature.'