Pakistan Foreign Office on Pakistan-Saudi Defence Pact REVEALS BIG 🇵🇰🇸🇦

“Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement was signed last year. There have been operational deployments, as the Saudi side said earlier. We would not want to comment further, as it is an operational matter.” pic.twitter.com/xcbnxqJjjY

— Zard si Gana (@ZardSi) September 17, 2026

'Some Deployments' Made Under SMDA

Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan, addressing his weekly media briefing on Thursday, confirmed that Pakistan has made "some deployments" in Saudi Arabia under the bilateral defence agreement signed in September 2025 .

"On SMDA, of course it was signed last year... There were some deployments also of forces there. And since it's an operational matter, I would not comment beyond that." 

The spokesperson stated that Pakistan remains committed "in intent and spirit" to implementing both the SMDA and the trilateral Makkah Joint Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, but emphasized that operational details must remain confidential .

"However, when, how, where and what force will be used against what objectives, in which modes and matters — operational confidentiality requires us to be discreet at this stage." 

Makkah Pact 'Purely Defensive'

Khan described the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement as "purely defensive in nature" and clarified that it is "neither directed against any country nor constitutes formally as a new bloc" . He said the trilateral pact formalizes and strengthens ongoing cooperation in training, capacity building, defence technologies, and research .

The agreement, signed on August 7, 2026, in Makkah by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all three .

Context: Houthi Attacks and Regional Tensions

The Foreign Office statement comes amid escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including an attempted drone strike targeting Makkah that was intercepted by Saudi air defences on Tuesday evening . The Houthis have denied responsibility for the attack .

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attempted attack, saluting the "extraordinary vigilance, courage, and professionalism" of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and reaffirming Pakistan's unwavering support for Saudi Arabia and the Haramain Sharifain .

Earlier Statements on the Pact

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier stated that Pakistan is "bound" to defend Saudi Arabia under the Makkah pact if the Kingdom faces aggression, declaring there should be "no doubt" about Pakistan's commitment . He described the agreement as a three-way pact involving Türkiye, meaning its provisions apply to all three signatories .

The Foreign Office, however, has consistently emphasized that operational details regarding "when, how, where, and what force will be used" remain confidential .

According to the leaked directive, Akhundzada instructed the Taliban Ministry of Defence to arrange special facilities for several individuals identified as members of or associated with terrorist networks. The document names Sheikh Talha al-Iraqi, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdullah Mahmood, Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Sheikh Abu Ikhlas Abu Umar al-Misri, Sheikh Abdul Haq Turkistani, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdul Ghafar Naqshbandi, and Sheikh Mawlavi Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hashimi, among others .

The Directives: Beyond Sanctuary

The leaked letter reveals that the support provided by the Taliban regime extends far beyond merely providing sanctuary. According to the document, the directives include:

• Confidential air travel arrangements for the named individuals

• Intelligence cooperation between Taliban authorities and terrorist networks

• Security protection for terrorist operatives

• Specialized training for terrorist personnel

• Engagement of specialists with expertise in explosives manufacturing and drone development

These measures, if implemented, would significantly enhance the mobility, operational capabilities, technical capacity, and organizational resilience of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan .

Verification from Multiple Sources

The authenticity of the leaked letter has been corroborated by multiple independent sources. The South Asia Times, The STRATCOM Bureau, and Khyber Chronicles have all reported on the document's contents, with detailed descriptions of the named individuals and the specific directives issued .

The letter's emergence comes amid mounting international evidence of the Taliban's support for terrorist networks. A recent UN Security Council report confirmed that the Afghan Taliban authorities continue to provide support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), contributing to a sharp escalation in cross-border attacks against Pakistan .

UN Findings Confirm the Pattern

The 38th report from the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, covering the period from December 2025 to June 2026, found that the Taliban's continued support for the TTP has fueled rising terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The report stated that no UN Security Council member state accepted Kabul's assertion that no terrorist groups operate from Afghan soil .

The UN report also highlighted that Al-Qaeda has provided training and advisory support to the TTP, with Al-Qaeda trainers in Afghanistan training TTP fighters alongside members of the Baloch Liberation Army .

Taliban's Denials: A Pattern of Deception

The Taliban regime has attempted to dismiss the leaked letter as fake, with its affiliated media outlets claiming it is fabricated. However, this follows a documented pattern. In 2024, the Taliban similarly denied the authenticity of a letter purporting to authorize US base use, despite widespread evidence of ongoing cooperation .

The Taliban's public denials are contradicted by the UN's findings, which state that the group's support for terrorist networks continues even as it publicly denies harboring any terrorist groups .

Afghanistan: A Growing Terrorist Hub

The leaked letter confirms what Pakistan has warned for years: Afghanistan under Taliban rule has become a global terrorist hub. According to UN assessments, at least 20 terrorist groups are currently operating in Afghanistan, with an estimated 20,000 to 23,000 terrorists present in the country .

The Washington Post has reported that Al-Qaeda has established eight safe havens across Afghanistan and has regrouped in at least 14 provinces. The group is running camps where TTP militants and suicide bombers receive training, with an estimated 7,000 TTP militants present in Afghanistan .

Implications for Regional Security

The leaked letter has serious implications for regional security. The provision of confidential air travel, intelligence coordination, and specialized training to terrorist operatives demonstrates that the Taliban regime is not merely a passive host to terrorist groups but an active enabler of their operations.

For Pakistan, which has suffered thousands of casualties from cross-border terrorism, the document provides further evidence of the Taliban's complicity. The UN report confirms that TTP attacks have escalated sharply, provoking military exchanges across the border .

The international community must now confront the reality that the Taliban regime, despite its public denials, is actively supporting terrorist networks. The leaked letter is not an isolated document but part of a systematic pattern of support that has made Afghanistan the world's primary source of transnational terrorism.

It also said that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their deadly crackdown on anti-government protests before the war.

The findings in a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined the US’s conduct during the Iran war that began in February and the Iranian government’s response to nationwide unrest that began in late December.

The Iranian and US permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

US officials have previously said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict, while Iran has consistently rejected allegations of systematic rights violations.

Minab school strike

The UN experts said they found reasonable grounds to believe US forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the city of Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including around 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials.

The indiscriminate attack caused civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, amounting to a war crime under international law, the mission concluded.

According to the report, the US failure to update information in relation to the school, which was adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex, in its targeting databases and to confirm the building was a military objective amounted to more than mere negligence.

According to the report, the US relied on intelligence suggesting a senior Iranian military commander was present at the site but failed to adequately verify the information before launching the strike.

“Rather, the US directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen.”

In June, US President Donald Trump said that “nobody” purposefully attacked a girls’ school in Iran in February, citing an investigation into the incident.

Reuters first reported that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran.

The Pentagon has since elevated the probe, but it has not published any preliminary findings.

UN experts said the school was a clearly identifiable civilian object and found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes.

The experts reached a similar conclusion over a strike on a sports centre in Lamerd.

The report said the attack damaged nearby residential buildings and a school and killed and injured 22 civilians. It concluded that the strike was indiscriminate and therefore constituted a war crime.

US Central Command said in a statement in March that US forces did not launch any strikes into the city of Lamerd on that day.

Iran abuses

The UN mission’s probe found that Iranian authorities carried out a widespread suppression of civilians during protests that erupted in late December last year.

Tehran blamed “terrorists and rioters” backed by exiled opponents and foreign foes — the US and Israel.

The probe said it could not independently verify the death toll, but that it believed the number of dead and injured was likely far higher than official figures, which say 3,038 people were killed and 25,000 people injured.

The government’s response to the protests — including violence, cutting off the internet and the use of the death penalty — marked a significant escalation from previous patterns of suppressing dissent, the report said.

CM Maryam came under scrutiny when it emerged that she used the provincial government jet to make a private visit to London, with opposition leaders questioning the use of an official aircraft for a family event.

However, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has denied the allegation, also insisting that the trip was paid for “out of her own pocket”.

Addressing a ceremony in Multan, the chief minister addressed the issue, noting criticism “directed at Maryam Nawaz’s plane”.

“It is not Maryam Nawaz’s plane; it is the chief minister’s plane. Maryam Nawaz is not going to take it to Raiwind [..] all four chief ministers have this facility,” she said.

She said she had served Punjab for two-and-a-half years. “I wake up, I go to work and come back in the evening [..] sometimes, I am working till so late that I fall asleep with my iPad or phone in my hand”.

The chief minister said that if she promised people a project, “Maryam always delivers double of that,” referring to herself in the third person.

“If she has committed 1,000 buses, she will give 5,000 [..] but sometimes for these projects, sometimes I have to go places — by cars or by plane [..] was I not on the rescue boats when catastrophic floods hit Punjab in 2025,” she said.

Noting that the chief ministers of all four provinces availed the facility, she said, “It is available to everyone, but the criticism is directed only at Maryam Nawaz”.

“Today, as I was coming here, I thought since there has been so much criticism, perhaps I should go by Qingqi or motorcycle, or if there is a metro bus I can take till here from Lahore,” she quipped.

She then cautioned the audience to be wary that “the criticism is not aimed at me, [but] rather [at] Punjab’s development and growth. It is directed at the mirror we hold to them [other provinces] every day.”

CM Maryam said that for the past two and a half years, she had been eager to see other provinces say they were doing better than Punjab.

She further held that the “Rs9 billion jet” was not hers, but rather belonged to the office of the chief minister.

“Tomorrow, if I go to Sargodha and have to go to Rawalpindi [..] How will I get around?” she questioned, stressing that the “most precious resource for a CM is their time”.

She said that she was heavily criticised solely “because I am doing the work and have left the others in a position where they have to save face”.

CM Maryam said her government had invested “Rs300bn in the Apni Chhat Apna Ghar initiative, Rs200bn in Green Buses [..] we are building the world’s biggest cancer hospital”.

“What have you done?” the chief minister asked.

Taking note of the scrutiny around her daughter’s graduation ceremony, she insisted that she had borne the expenses, with the total bill amounting to Rs27.5 million.

“A chief minister or prime minister is never on leave, and none of their visits is personal. I am working while I am on the plane. I work wherever I am,” CM Maryam claimed.

She further contended that, given the nature of her role, she could not afford to lose contact with her government at any time.

“If I lose contact with my government on an eight-hour flight and if there is an issue, who is going to handle it?” she asked.

Addressing the gathering, CM Maryam held up a “receipt” of the expenses on her phone.

CM Maryam said she did not owe “these vloggers and YouTubers a justification”; however, she maintained, “I would still present an explanation in the court of the public.”

She said that when her tenure ends, “I will not be taking this plane home with me”; however, the chief minister maintained that her trips to Brazil, Japan, China or Türkiye were undertaken “so I could showcase my government’s progress.”

“So, yes, I hope that I get to go again on the plane,” she said.

CM Maryam recalled that the day she was set to return to Pakistan, several commercial flights were cancelled due to an issue with the United Kingdom’s air traffic control system.

“People travelling by commercial flights had to extend their stay by five to six days, and if I did not have the plane, I would have been stuck and lost five to six days. That is not just five to six days for Maryam Nawaz but five to six projects for the people of Punjab,” she said.

“I don’t have time to waste,” CM Maryam said, claiming that she often worked till midnight.

“I then wake up at 8am and come back to work. Every waking moment, my office is with me, whether I am in Murree or London.”

In response to the criticism, she further said, “Kids, keep at it; may God give you more success in your business. I don’t owe you an answer; I am answerable only to the people.”

The chief minister also took a jibe at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi over his recent visit to Lahore, without naming him.

“As you saw, some people from KP came to Punjab; he was sitting on the roadside, but no one barely recognised the individual,” CM Maryam remarked.

She noted that the visit was “so unsuccessful” that she had to “scold” her deputy commissioners “for not being able to scrounge up at least 400-500 people for a welcome, but even they could not find anyone willing to come”.

CM Maryam said that the “individual from KP” was making statements questioning the government’s legitimacy. However, he failed to get people’s attention, she added.

“Instead, he sat in a police vehicle forcibly and attempted to stage an abduction. He thought perhaps the act would create some drama,” in reference to the KP CM’s claim that he was “abducted” by authorities in Lahore and later “thrown” by the roadside. Punjab government has denied the allegation.