ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday presented former Special Services Group (SSG) Havaldar Muhammad Asif before the media, after Indian authorities allegedly claimed that he had been killed during an operation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference, the DG ISPR said the Indian Army had claimed to have conducted an operation in the occupied territory and staged what Pakistan describes as a “false-flag operation” on September 29.
He said an Indian Army corps posted a statement on social media on the night of September 29, claiming that a “terrorist” had been killed and that the body of a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant had been recovered.
According to Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the alleged militant was identified by Indian authorities as Muhammad Asif, alias Hashim Musa.
The DG ISPR said an Indian news agency subsequently published details allegedly including a service number and claimed that Asif had carried out attacks in different areas.
During the press conference, the former SSG Havaldar Muhammad Asif was presented before journalists. According to the DG ISPR, Indian authorities had claimed that the same individual had been killed in the operation.
“This is the person whom India claimed was Hashim Musa, alias Asif,” Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said. He added that India had portrayed him as a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, a terrorist and an SSG havaldar before claiming that he had been killed.
The DG ISPR further alleged that India sponsors militant groups for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan had identified six reasons behind what he described as India’s “false-flag drama,” without immediately elaborating on all of them.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also accused India of spreading terrorism internationally and alleged that New Delhi had provided funding to groups including the Mukti Bahini and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Turning to the situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the DG ISPR said it was important to understand the circumstances there. He described the region as “the largest prison in the world” and claimed that more than one million Indian troops and personnel from other security institutions were deployed there.
The statements made during the briefing represent Pakistan’s position on the Indian claims and allegations concerning the reported operation.
