Daily Times Editorials 16th September 2026

Saudi Red Line

Saudi Arabia has warned of a “firm” response after another round of Houthi missile and drone attacks wounded civilians in Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif and triggered alerts across several cities, including Makkah and Jeddah. Riyadh has already struck targets inside Yemen, while the Houthis have threatened further attacks. The confrontation is moving steadily beyond Yemen’s borders.

For Saudi Arabia, the issue is now straightforward. Repeated strikes on cities, military installations and energy infrastructure cannot be allowed to become routine. Every state has the right to defend its territory and citizens, and Pakistan has been right to say so clearly.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also condemned the attacks and assured Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Pakistan’s complete solidarity. At the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has similarly backed the kingdom’s right under international law to protect its territory, citizens and national assets. These statements matter more today because Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye are now linked through the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.Download Interactive Maps

The agreement was built around collective deterrence. If missiles and drones repeatedly crossing into a member state’s territory do not test that principle, little else will. Even so, the question before Islamabad is not whether it stands with Riyadh. That part is already settled. The question is how best to give substance to that commitment.

There is room for several forms of support before talk turns to direct operations inside Yemen. Intelligence sharing, air and missile defence, early warning, protection of strategic installations, maritime coordination and logistical assistance can all strengthen Saudi security. Pakistan has already indicated that the operational machinery of the Makkah pact is still being worked out. That caution is sensible.

The wider setting demands it. Houthi forces have advanced along Yemen’s Red Sea coast towards Bab al-Mandab. Traffic through Hormuz has fallen sharply. Saudi oil infrastructure has already come under attack, while crude prices have climbed further. For Pakistan, which is already struggling with an expensive import bill and record domestic fuel prices, another prolonged disruption across the Gulf and Red Sea would come at a high cost.Browse Islamic Supplies

Islamabad’s relationship with Tehran is also relevant. Pakistan should use those channels plainly and firmly. Continued attacks on Saudi territory serve nobody in the region, least of all countries already paying the economic price of the wider conflict.

Riyadh’s warning therefore deserves to be taken seriously. The Houthis cannot expect repeated attacks on Saudi territory to carry no consequences. At the same time, Yemen has already endured more than a decade of war, and another open-ended campaign would carry costs far beyond the battlefield.

The Makkah pact is now facing the kind of crisis that will define its meaning. Pakistan’s support for Saudi Arabia should be clear, practical and credible. Its diplomacy should be equally active.

A firm defence of Saudi sovereignty and a serious effort to prevent a wider regional war can, and should, proceed together. *

Madhubala’s Ordeal

Madhubala is once again fighting for her life. The African elephant collapsed at Karachi’s Safari Park on Monday and could no longer stand without assistance, forcing staff to support her with a crane belt. Officials say swelling in her right hind leg may be preventing movement, while tests are being arranged to establish the cause. For an elephant already weakened by tuberculosis and months of treatment, immobility itself can become fatal.Newspapers

Karachi has seen this picture before.

Noor Jehan spent her final days unable to stand after falling into a pond at Karachi Zoo in 2023. Her post-mortem recorded severe infection and internal trauma alongside inadequate medical care. Sonia collapsed and died at Safari Park the following year and subsequent testing found severe bacterial infection and chronic illnesses affecting vital organs. Madhubala and Malika were later diagnosed with tuberculosis, prompting the KMC to constitute an 18-member technical committee containing Pakistani and international specialists.

The authorities therefore cannot claim they lacked warning, expertise or institutional machinery.

There has been progress. Madhubala was finally moved from Karachi Zoo to the larger Safari Park in November 2024 after years of concern over her isolation. International specialists have remained involved in her care, and she completed an 18-month tuberculosis treatment course. These efforts deserve recognition. Yet successive medical emergencies raise an uncomfortable question about whether Karachi possesses the permanent veterinary capacity, husbandry standards and institutional discipline required to keep elephants at all.Wildlife

That question should no longer be treated as the preserve of animal-rights activists. In the Kaavan case, the Islamabad High Court held in 2020 that captive animals have a right to conditions meeting their behavioural, social and physiological needs. It found that inadequate facilities and management could amount to unnecessary suffering. Kaavan was subsequently moved from Islamabad to a sanctuary.

Madhubala now requires round-the-clock specialist supervision, transparent publication of her diagnostic results and an independent assessment of whether her enclosure, diet, exercise and long-term medical management meet accepted elephant-care standards. The technical committee created after earlier failures should explain publicly how often it meets, what recommendations it has made and which have actually been implemented.

There is also a larger decision ahead. Elephants are highly social, wide-ranging animals with demanding physical and psychological needs. If the country cannot provide those conditions consistently, civic pride cannot justify keeping them in captivity. *