The Pakistan Army, which has been infamous for being reduced to mercenaries in the past, is in for some massive embarrassment yet again. Given the Pakistan Army is a corpulent, corrupt and immoral military force, it has no qualms against selling off the lives of its Army personnel for causes and conflicts that bear no real nexus with Pakistan’s interests or its strategic objectives.
Pakistani ex-Army mercenaries have been involved in the Yemen War where they are fighting on Saudi Arabia’s side against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, led by Pakistan’s ex Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.
As Pakistan received the $6 billion bailout package from Saudi Arabia, it was confirmed that this benevolence on the part of Kingdom was no benevolence after all, but a buyout of Pakistan’s army cum mercenaries. Retired Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif is said to have taken on the task to lead Saudi Arabia into battle. Little did Saudi Arabia know that there is a lot more experience that the Pakistan military general brought to the table than asked for. Saudi Arabia’s massive battle with Houthis in Yemen, was an utter disaster as the Pakistani general is believed to have led thousands of Saudi and Pakistani soldiers straight towards a humiliating surrender with hundreds of casualties.
Former Pakistan Army Chief, Raheel Sharif, pushed three brigades of troops, which approximately translates into 10,000 soldiers, led by the ex Pakistan military general. Iran backed Houthis have inflicted heavy casualities in an attack that they say was carried out in August.
Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, gave account of an ambush, which he says later developed into an “all out ” cross border attack that trapped troops inside Saudi Arabia. Saree said, “More than 200 were killed in dozens of [missile and drone] strikes while trying to escape or surrender.” The ferocious attack is said to have been carried out near the border with Saudi Arabia’s southern region of Najran. Raheel Sharif is said to have led thousands of Saudi and Pakistani troops into surrender and also braced hundreds of casualities. Majority of the soldiers led by the ex Pakistani Military Chief who was made the Islamic Counter Terror coalition Force are reported to be from the Pakistani Army. The video footage released by Houthis shows hundreds of Pakistani and Saudi soldiers marching after surrender. This mass capture of troops by Iran backed Houthis has come as a huge setback and embarrassment for Saudis and Pakistan Army.
https://twitter.com/Defence_360/status/1178343288090353668
Huge embarrassment to the Saudi forces – former Pakistan Army Chief Raheel Sharif commands its anti terror coalition.
"Yemen's Houthi rebels release Saudi attack video"
https://t.co/bWlSWP0hQ0— Manu Pubby (@manupubby) September 29, 2019
It is important to mention here that the Yemen war is a hotbed for proxy wars and mercenaries. Both the powers involved primarily in the conflict Iran and Saudi Arabia are rich oil players, making the conflict a major international issue having repercussions beyond those immediately involved. Saudi Arabia, in particular, would obviously look for mercenaries rather than fighting the war itself. Pakistan saw a perfect opportunity of putting its so called security establishment as quid pro quo for a bailout package.
Pakistan therefore sent mercenaries to kill fellow “Muslims”- Muslims, that Imran Khan so emphatically defended during his bizarre UNGA speech and even blamed India for Islamophobia. However, this episode has exposed Pakistan’s fake stand as protector of Muslims across the world.
However, this is not the first time that the Pakistan Army has fought such a battle against fellow “Muslims”. It has been very often guilty of taking part in such battles. In 1971, for example, Zia Ul Haq, then a Pakistan Army Brigadier and who later became Pakistan Army Chief and Pakistan President, had led massacre of 4000-25000 Palestinians in Jordan for the Jordanian Army in its battle against the Palestinian Liberation Force that attempted to overthrow the Jordanian King Hussein. The event is infamously remembered as Black September. Palestinians are generally treated as lowly by other Arabs and they get to occupy the centrestage only when it comes to using them as a weapon against Israel and Jews. This is also in total contrast to the position that Pakistan has traditionally held on the issue of Palestine. It has mostly tried to position itself as the most ardent supporter of Palestine’s fight against Israel. However, when it came to fat pay cheques, Pakistan Army even sacrificed the country’s stance towards the Palestinians, staying true to its mercenary nature.
