During the 1970 Black September conflict in Jordan, Pakistani troops under Gen Zia-Ul-Haq (later Pakistan’s president) killed 25,000 Palestinians. In a sharp contrast to this, today Pakistan is playing the farce of pro-Palestine protests against the killings of Palestinians in Gaza. Pakistan has also signed a defence deal with Saudi Arabia promising a nuclear shield  (https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/pakistan-army-mercenary-saudi-arabia-defence-pact-hire-zia-ul-haq-black-september-palestinians-killed-jordan-grand-mosque-zimbabwe-2797005-2025-10-03) for the proposed Arab-Islamic NATO.

Junaid S Ahmad, Director, Centre for Study of Islam and Decolonization, Islamabad (Pakistan} says Pakistan Army is an army of mercenaries, Pakistani generals are not masters of strategy but only masters of housing schemes, Swiss bank accounts, and the fine art of losing wars to India. At the same time, former Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan describes how Pakistan trained radicals fighters to be shifted to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) for a renewed insurgency against India.

Fighting between the Taliban and Pakistan has again broken out despite the ongoing third round of talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Turkey.  The Afghan delegation is led by the intelligence chief, Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, while the Pakistani delegation is headed by ISI head, Asim Malik.

Covert Drone Ops

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had acknowledged that Pakistan provided a base to a foreign country to deploy drones, However, later at the Istanbul peace talks, Pakistani officials reportedly said in a closed-door session that the drone strikes hitting Afghan provinces were being launched from bases inside Pakistan, using US-origin platforms, under a continuing covert security arrangement with Washington. This admission was entered into the official meeting record but later deleted. Pakistan publicly condemned the drone strikes, but enabled them privately to retain leverage over the Taliban government.

Pakistan has resorted to covert drone cooperation with the US to punish Kabul and reassert leverage in Afghanistan but is facing resistance – paying for fencing and barricading the Durand Line, which Afghans don’t recognize since the line divides Pashtuns on both sides. To top this, Pakistan is pushing Afghans and their families back into Afghanistan in the harsh winters.

If the above was not enough, Ahmed Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, has met ISI General Shahab Aslam in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. Massoud has been asked to expand the NRF and include all the ethnic groups of Afghanistan (https://x.com/NRFUpdates/status/1986241266162745704?s=03). It shows the courtesans of Pakistan dancing to music of their peers in Washington.

Recall the contrast when the US handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban on a platter in August 2021(post US-Pakistan talks in Doha, Qatar), The NRF retreated to the Panjshir Valley to form a new resistance front led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. The valley was the only region not under Taliban control at that time and served as a formidable mountainous base for anti-Taliban forces. The Pakistani military conducted air and drone strikes in Panjshir Valley and provided all help for a Taliban offensive against the NRF, but the NRF retreated further into the mountains.

Politicians Or Courtesans?

According to reports, Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Egypt in October 2025 where he met officials from Israel's Mossad and the CIA. Later Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly informed his cabinet that Pakistani and Indonesian troops could be deployed in Gaza to fight against Hamas. There were also reports of Pakistan demanding US$10,000 for each soldier sent to Gaza but Israel agreeing US$1,000 per head.

Pakistan of course has denied such a deal. But given the history of the Pakistani generals playing courtesan, such a deal for whatever number of Pakistani soldiers may well be on the cards – to kill Hamas/Palestinians, clear the debris and help establish Trump’s "Riviera Beach Resort" in Gaza. 

Shehbaz Sharif, himself playing courtesan to Field Marshal Asim Munir, is working to pass the 27th amendment to the Pakistan's Constitution, extending Munir’s tenure, constitutionalizing his field marshal rank, and creating a Constitutional Court (separate from the Supreme Court) giving extraordinary powers to Munir - lest the younger Sharif gets booted out from Pakistan like his elder brother Nawaz Sharif once was.

(The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal)