Loyalty of Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons in Question - ADA News - December 14th 2019

Capt Boyle · March 8, 2021

Loyalty of Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons in Question

ADA News

Dateline: December 14th 2019

On Friday of last week, there was a suicide bombing in the Punjab region of Pakistan, near the Sargodha Central Ammunition Depot that claimed six lives and wounded eighteen more. In and of itself, this bombing was not uncommon for the region, nor was it entirely unexpected after Pakistan security forces had conducted a counterterrorism sweep of the region that had left 58 suspected Lashkar-e-Islam militants dead. The surprising aspect of this attack were its victims. Two of the dead were Saudi nationals, both of which were tied to Saudi Arabia’s nascent civilian nuclear program, and three of the wounded were members of the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force.

Picture: Saudi ballistic missile forces during an exercise

Questions have been raised as to why these men were in the area in the first place, especially when no such visit was publicly announced and the Saudis appeared to be driving without an escort. Many analysts have pointed to the fact that the attack occurred near where Pakistan stores its nuclear weapons, and that the Saudis have recently increased funding for their ballistic missile program, without the development of the weapons systems that make ballistic missiles effective, namely nuclear weapons. Some have suggested the closeness of Saudi and Pakistani militaries and political leaders is a sign that the two may have an agreement on the sharing of technology, and even weaponry, which raises concerns about the already unstable region.

By Mark Clark

ADA News