Pakistan MPs Slam Troop Deployment to Saudi Arabia
KARACHI (Dispatches) -- Pakistan is sending troops to ally Saudi Arabia on a "training and advise mission,” the military said, three years after it decided against sending soldiers to join the kingdom’s military aggression in Yemen.
The exact role the troops will play was unclear, but a statement from the army’s press wing on Thursday stressed they "will not be employed outside” the kingdom.
Pakistan’s retired army chief, General Raheel Sharif, commands the so-called Saudi-led coalition attacking Yemen, though it was not immediately clear whether the new troops would participate in that coalition.
Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan to provide ships, aircraft and troops for the Yemen campaign.
Pakistan’s parliament voted to remain neutral to avoid being pulled into a regional power struggle, in part because the country shares a border with Iran and has a sizeable Shia minority.
There are already about 750-800 Pakistani servicemen in Saudi Arabia, in part to guard Islamic holy sites, but they are not combat troops.
Several Pakistani lawmakers on Friday blasted the new decision to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia, saying the move violated the parliamentary resolution that urged neutrality in the war on Yemen.
Senator Farhatullah Babar warned of "grave consequences” for Pakistan regarding the troop deployment to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistani Senate chairman Raza Rabbani summoned the country’s foreign minister to explain the reasons for the deployment of the troops to Saudi Arabia.
Shireen Mazari, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, also slammed the government decision and sought clarifications to make sure that the initiative would not "contravene” the country’s neutrality outlined in the parliamentary resolution.
"Mr. Speaker, as you know, Saudis themselves are embroiled in the war and it is not reaching any conclusion,” she said, demanding the government explain the terms of the security pact with the Saudis and the type of missions Pakistani troops will undertake in the kingdom.
"How and on what grounds the government took the decision, or was this decision not taken by the government as such but it was just part of a routine that the military decided to send more troops?” she asked.
The Saudi war was launched in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been running state affairs since the former regime resigned.
The offensive has, however, achieved neither of its goals despite the spending of billions of petrodollars and the enlisting of the cooperation of Saudi Arabia’s regional and Western allies.
The Saudi-led campaign, which is accompanied by a land, aerial, and naval blockade of Yemen, has so far killed more than 13,600 people and led to a humanitarian crisis.
The exact role the troops will play was unclear, but a statement from the army’s press wing on Thursday stressed they "will not be employed outside” the kingdom.
Pakistan’s retired army chief, General Raheel Sharif, commands the so-called Saudi-led coalition attacking Yemen, though it was not immediately clear whether the new troops would participate in that coalition.
Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan to provide ships, aircraft and troops for the Yemen campaign.
Pakistan’s parliament voted to remain neutral to avoid being pulled into a regional power struggle, in part because the country shares a border with Iran and has a sizeable Shia minority.
There are already about 750-800 Pakistani servicemen in Saudi Arabia, in part to guard Islamic holy sites, but they are not combat troops.
Several Pakistani lawmakers on Friday blasted the new decision to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia, saying the move violated the parliamentary resolution that urged neutrality in the war on Yemen.
Senator Farhatullah Babar warned of "grave consequences” for Pakistan regarding the troop deployment to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistani Senate chairman Raza Rabbani summoned the country’s foreign minister to explain the reasons for the deployment of the troops to Saudi Arabia.
Shireen Mazari, a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, also slammed the government decision and sought clarifications to make sure that the initiative would not "contravene” the country’s neutrality outlined in the parliamentary resolution.
"Mr. Speaker, as you know, Saudis themselves are embroiled in the war and it is not reaching any conclusion,” she said, demanding the government explain the terms of the security pact with the Saudis and the type of missions Pakistani troops will undertake in the kingdom.
"How and on what grounds the government took the decision, or was this decision not taken by the government as such but it was just part of a routine that the military decided to send more troops?” she asked.
The Saudi war was launched in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been running state affairs since the former regime resigned.
The offensive has, however, achieved neither of its goals despite the spending of billions of petrodollars and the enlisting of the cooperation of Saudi Arabia’s regional and Western allies.
The Saudi-led campaign, which is accompanied by a land, aerial, and naval blockade of Yemen, has so far killed more than 13,600 people and led to a humanitarian crisis.