I never felt scared in my 24 years with the Pakistani army, but I did almost lose hope once

“I never felt scared in my 24 years with the Pakistani army. You feel secure when you give and follow orders. You don’t have a chance to re-think or question them… But I did almost lose hope once. In the Kargil War of 99’. We were fighting at 4400m above sea level, fighting not only the enemy but altitude sickness, frostbite and temporary memory loss when we got hit by an airstrike. It wasn’t a direct hit but 24 men were injured by the shells. We got stuck there at high elevation, pinned down by snipers, where the air was so thin that the rescue helicopters couldn’t get us. We had to wait 3-and-a-half days with no food. We ate left-over biscuits and grass to survive, giving the wounded Morphine to keep them alive, but it all ran out the second day… I lost a lot of men that day but I believe they are waiting for me up there and that gives me some comfort.”