One dead, 3 wounded in Saudi-Pakistan military training
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RIYADH: One soldier was killed and three others wounded on Wednesday in a live-fire military exercise between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, official media said.
A military official told Dawn.com that initial information coming from Riyadh suggests that no Pakistani solider has been killed.
The report on the SPA website quoted an official source at the Saudi Ministry of Defense saying, “a non-commissioned officer has died and three other officers have sustained injuries during live-ammunition shooting related to the Saudi-Pakistani al-Samsam 5” exercises in Baha, in the kingdom's southwest.
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The condition of the wounded was reported as stable.
The pre scheduled Saudi-Pak joint exercise al-Samsam-5 is being held in Taif since March 29. At the time of commencement a Saudi commander had said that exercise has nothing to do with military operations in Yemen.
At least 292 Pakistani troops are participating in the joint exercise which is held annually. Last year the exercise was held near Jhelum in Pakistan.
The incident occurred as Pakistan debates whether or not to join a Saudi-led coalition battling Shia rebels in neighbouring Yemen.
Read: Parliamentarians speak out against intervention in Yemen
Saudi Arabia has asked its longstanding ally to contribute planes, ships and ground troops but Pakistan has so far resisted.
The coalition on March 26 began air strikes against the Houthi rebels.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (91) Closed
Apr 09, 2015 01:01pm
It is very unusual about weapon traning
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Apr 09, 2015 01:03pm
Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un... Rest in peace brave soldiers... Ameen...
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Apr 09, 2015 01:09pm
Unfortunately those died in war against Yemen cause there hasn't been any military training in progress currently. Not a valid excuse.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:13pm
good to see pakistan not learning any lesson from history
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Apr 09, 2015 01:18pm
Why is Pakistani media calling them rebels and Shia. When they are neither rebels not all Shia. They are primarily Zaidis, who don't consider themselves completely Shia. There are also sunni groups fighting with them to create a non-sectarian state. Why call them rebels?
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Apr 09, 2015 01:19pm
Casuality even before joining the conflict
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Apr 09, 2015 01:20pm
oops...that doesnt sound right...looks like some soldiers have already been sent to fight in yemen... If you have already denied it due to public pressure, then you have to come up with some other excuse for the death!
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Apr 09, 2015 01:24pm
I hope they wouldn't Pakistani. However, it is part of life.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:24pm
perhaps reports should report the facts only,its not training , its joing exercise going on with live ammunition. so lets not confuse the masses to tilt opinion in one direction
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Apr 09, 2015 01:24pm
Begs to question whether its a training at all given the debate and given the location of the incident which is very near to Yemen.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:27pm
Why is there such a secracy? How many newspapers knew of this training which Pakistani military men are engaged in the Kingdom ?
why have the newspapers failed in their duty to journalism ?
They expect us to believe the Saudi Arabia press reports that no Pakistani was injured. I would not believe any report attributed to the Saudis , they are neither honest nor c redible in the eyes of the civilised world.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:30pm
How can only training cause such casualties? Are they unaware how to use weapons? It seems Pakistan's Govt is just cheating Pakistani public and cabinet. These soldiers must be participating in Yemen attacks hence killed and injured. Pakistani Govt should be tried in court over lying and subjecting lives of Pakistani soldiers in danger as well as supporting a criminal coalition responsible for international war crimes.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:31pm
Ok so this is First blood drawn, Now what more these Saudis want ( No matter whoes Blood it is ) What more do they want in this unwanted war
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Apr 09, 2015 01:36pm
I thought were are debating the issue, to send the troops or not to send... are we there already.. and if we are why are we wasting the time in national Assembly... Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.folks...The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:37pm
Or maybe they are already fighting in Yemen together and using this as an alibi.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:37pm
This is serious issue needs pure evaluation and investigation what caused injury and death.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:42pm
This is what happens when Made In China stuff is used
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Apr 09, 2015 01:43pm
Seeminly they are very clumsy……
And the real conflict has not even begun!!
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Apr 09, 2015 01:47pm
Nothing unusual as playing with weapon has same results. Good that both countries are getting closer which will be fruitful in future.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:54pm
something seems very strange about these casualties.
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Apr 09, 2015 01:58pm
@Usman IU
USA funds not coming so now its saudis
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Apr 09, 2015 01:58pm
RIP!
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Apr 09, 2015 01:59pm
@prakash
It's an annual joint training event, unrelated to Yemen.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:02pm
Its a soft way of telling the nation that we are involved in Yemen war. Supremacy of Parliament PMLN style.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:14pm
@prakash that's not war-related. It was just routine exercises.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:27pm
@prakash casualty you meant?
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Apr 09, 2015 02:28pm
They are Houthi rebels...not Shia rebels. Plz do not paint this as Shia Sunni war!! And Houthi group is made up of various people of different sects and color.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:28pm
Do Saudis care about any Pakistani casualties? All they "demand" is unconditional military support from Pakistan!!
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Apr 09, 2015 02:34pm
Is there going to be a follow up article with details?
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Apr 09, 2015 02:42pm
@Waseem live fire exercises are always dangerous. And casualties are common. But you don't send soldiers to war without it.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:43pm
@srk fan and what lesson would that be? Do not stand by your friends in their hour of need?
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Apr 09, 2015 02:44pm
Something fishy here, Mr. Sharif is hiding something from the nation.
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Apr 09, 2015 02:53pm
GOD save Pakistan ,PML N is pushing the country to open War .
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Apr 09, 2015 03:05pm
Saudi should train Pakistan military before joining the conflict.
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Apr 09, 2015 03:13pm
They can't even have a war 'game' or practice without losing men... pathetic army depending on other nations to save them ...
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Apr 09, 2015 03:16pm
Sad..very sad
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Apr 09, 2015 03:18pm
Training with live ammunition? Very unusual to lose soldiers even before their deployment.
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Apr 09, 2015 03:22pm
Is it really military exercise or Yemen WAR?
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Apr 09, 2015 03:27pm
They already killed Pakistani soldier...we should stay far away from the Saudis
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Apr 09, 2015 03:28pm
Sad to know the loss of life & injuries.
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Apr 09, 2015 03:39pm
why to train hard when some one else can fight for you,wow
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Apr 09, 2015 03:53pm
Doesn't sound very convincing. What's going on?
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Apr 09, 2015 03:54pm
Conspiracy theorists at it again?! Without proof but then again.....
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Apr 09, 2015 04:08pm
@varntvar you are correct...!!! but media has spread wrong news.. Yemeni rebels are not shia, and Iran has not support them.
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Apr 09, 2015 04:21pm
I'm totally against intervening in Yemen with the Saudis. This is not war. Why should we get into it?
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Apr 09, 2015 04:43pm
military trainning excercise when there is a war.going on ?
its fishy
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Apr 09, 2015 04:48pm
Probably many commentators commenting the truth but they may not be moderated.
Pak, be honest whatever you do, tell your people and tell the reasons why you are doing it, sometimes it may not be popular.
No wonder why no one trust Pakistan. Cold war is over, war on terror is no more priority for US. Pak will starve to death soon if you continue this attitude.
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Apr 09, 2015 04:51pm
dead while traning...than what will happen when they fight..
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Apr 09, 2015 05:01pm
No kidding. People are not stupid.......... A 34 year man, with degree in law and no experience in army is heading Saudi army. Now it seems he is also leading Pakistan army too............... A country who is suffering from war since 1979, its politicians are thinking to go for war in Yemen....... to please that 34 year old prince.........because the prince like war..............
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Apr 09, 2015 05:05pm
Such accidents normally happen during live grenade throwing training in which there is one instructor along with one or two trainees.
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Apr 09, 2015 05:19pm
In an unprofessional training, mishap likely to occur.
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Apr 09, 2015 05:28pm
Such accidents do happen it is the part of Military life but even then sorry for the loss of a soldier, rest in peace.
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Apr 09, 2015 05:30pm
Are these the war preparations? If these soldiers cannot even stand in a scripted condition designed for training purpose, then how would they be able to stand in actual war condition where it is uncertain. This is very shocking about a nation who stands onj fifteenth rank in world's most powerful military nations. this rank is very huge.
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Apr 09, 2015 06:08pm
@varntvar
The report is from AFP. Not from the Pakistani media.
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Apr 09, 2015 06:23pm
This proves how competent Saudi Soldier are, Saudi have never done anything by themselves, they always relays on foreign labor. Yemeni are fighting for their rights within their country borders, they did not attack Saudi kingdom, it's shameful that Saudi Arabia have attacked a muslim country and killing innocent civilian and freedom fighters.
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Apr 09, 2015 06:35pm
@Waseem I come from a military family and it is very common in militaries all across the world. Many soldiers die not just during weapons training even during endurance tests. Although the ratio is very very minor but it is there.
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Apr 09, 2015 06:38pm
The Saudis are not used to doing any hard labor in their country and import workers from all over Asia. The same thing applies to importing soldiers to do their battles. Pakistan can and will provide such soldiers, for a price. There is nothing wrong or surprising about this.
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Apr 09, 2015 06:42pm
40 percent of Saudi army is Yemani people. Smell something went wrong . Please bring back Pakistan army, its matter of self esteem and national pride.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:07pm
Why do we ever hold military excercise with Saudi Arabia? What do the Saudis know about military. The excercise has everything to do with Yemen. The Saudi commander should stop making a fool of the Pakustani Nation. We are not stupid.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:16pm
If Saudi's cannot conduct proper training how the heck they are going to fight Yemeni rebels? I think Saudis consider Pakistani soldiers as expendable.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:21pm
@saz it can happen. In 2002 when India mobilized hair war against pakistan, they lost 700 in the process of mobilization.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:21pm
Undoubtedly, Saudi botch up. Pakistan army is too professional for such mistakes.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:22pm
Pakisthan want to d help quitely By Saudi is leaking to the world . So ultimately Pak have joined the Yeman war .
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Apr 09, 2015 07:22pm
This is an absurd excuse: Die during military exercise. Who they are trying to fool. This is not a new thing. Saudis always buy Pakistani lives for their safety.
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Apr 09, 2015 07:45pm
@Majid Khan Yes I spelled it wrongly sorry
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Apr 09, 2015 08:04pm
Why can't Saudis find enough soldiers in their army?
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Apr 09, 2015 08:33pm
@L.Ahmad haha..I think you should go to Saudi Arabia or watch some documentary on that country..all the work there is done by Indians Pakistanis n Bangladeshis..like most ppl, iam also waiting for their oil to run out!!
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Apr 09, 2015 08:49pm
The Saudis know that Pakistan is in a full scale war against terror on its own soil and yet they wish to seek our help in attacking an underdeveloped country just because they are Shias. This is preposterous. The Saudis should stop causing trouble for all their neighbours and spend their money on their own poverty stricken Saudis of which there are now millions, instead of on violence and getting over their paranoia. Poor Saudis need your help, Highnesses!
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Apr 09, 2015 08:59pm
I thought Pakistan Govt. was claiming they are not providing any training, any instrument/ hardware till senate approval!!! Finally Pakistani got involved in OTHER'S war.
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Apr 09, 2015 09:36pm
@Shafiq khan yeah u come from the most civilised country 75 percent of which h is illiterates
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Apr 09, 2015 09:38pm
Condolences to the martyred soldiers.
Long live Pak-Saudi friendship.
Let the enemies hate.
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Apr 09, 2015 09:55pm
Pakistan conducts joint military exercises with many nations including the USA, UK, most Muslim and Arab nations as well. This is standard operating procedure. BTW, Indians not only conduct such programs with Israel, India also does covert operations in the USA with the National Security Agency to learn new technology on how to use surveillance against Pakistan.
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Apr 09, 2015 10:41pm
After this incident, Saudis may re-evaluate their offer. May hire soldiers from other countries. Perhaps more well trained!
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Apr 09, 2015 11:09pm
During military exercises live ammunition is not used.
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Apr 10, 2015 12:00am
Unfortunately the entire world see mercenaries be it Bahrain Jordan afganistan we are ready to send our forces I pray that this time we proved them wrong
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Apr 10, 2015 12:01am
I hope our government is not lying to us and this accident does not involve the Yemeni crisis.
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Apr 10, 2015 12:07am
Exercises with live ammunition? Never heard it before. Something looks fishy.
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Apr 10, 2015 12:51am
@varntvar .They are Houti shia rebels because they are fighting against the elected government of Yemen. They have been trained in Iran. Iran supplied the weapons to destabilize Yemen and the make the Sunni majority country ruled by Shias like Syria. The first thing the Houties do after capturing cities and towns is to replace the Sunni Imams with a Shia Imams in the Masajids even though the majority of the population in the areas is sunny. Iran is involved in Syria to help Bashir government against the people of Syria. They are also helping Iraqi army against IS who are Sunnis. Please go to PBS program front line and watch the Journalists reports from Houtis captured areas.
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Apr 10, 2015 01:02am
Looks like a lot of people are just assuming a lot of stuff. Pak govt has already stated there are around 1000 mon combat troops there and they are participating in these exercises. No more no less.
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Apr 10, 2015 01:07am
More accidents happen in training than civilians would think. They can only be held to a minimum. Sometimes live grenades are dropped on the ground or a mortar round gets stuck in the tube. It no Pakistanis were hurt. Just leave it at that. It unfortunately is the norm not the exception.
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Apr 10, 2015 01:38am
In the battle field there is more casualties, how they will tell about that? so it mean that they are not in the war yet.
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Apr 10, 2015 02:16am
I love Pakistani politics. Saudi wants Pakistani troops, parliament wants debate, Nawaz wants to be PM but can't give up his Saudi insurance policy, so he gives everybody what they want. Lol.
Next, they will take the soldier's bodies and throw them on the LoC, and claim they died due to unprovoked Indian firing.
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Apr 10, 2015 06:25am
This appears to be a premeditated story that has left so many things unsaid!
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Apr 10, 2015 06:27am
Baha is close to Yemen-SA borders . What sort of training was going on near the war zone?
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Apr 10, 2015 11:06am
Houthis are also human beings, to differentiate them as zaidis/half shias or half sunnis or
non-sunnis needs deep thought.Every one think and pray for early end to on going war.
There is majority of innocent men,women and children facing death specter,hunger,no
food,no water and no medicine besides poor tribal life,peace is the need of hour.Let there
be call from every body to stop fighting and sit down to solve problem amicably.
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Apr 10, 2015 11:39am
Such training exercise shoujd not be ended up in deaths and wounds of soldeirs. What they will do in battle field?
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Apr 10, 2015 02:20pm
Such exercises actually include live fire and a small mistake and gap in co-ordination can cause injuries or death . I was surprised to see 80+ comments here with almost everyone reading analyzing an accident in one way or another except how it actually was : an accident . I guess there is no dearth of "conspiracy theorists" in Pakistan or India.
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Apr 11, 2015 10:17am
Hahahahha...seriously man!
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Apr 11, 2015 02:39pm
@Shafiq khan Well said brother. And we are not Arabs nor Iranians. We are Pakistanis of south Asia.
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Apr 11, 2015 08:12pm
Pakistan should withdraw all troops immediately from Saudi Arabia. It is not safe for the Pakistan troops.
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Apr 12, 2015 04:13pm
@varntvar exactly, and they are a combination of people from different sects
but have promised there loyality to the houti groups
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