Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday presented Havildar Muhammad Asif, a retired Pakistan Army soldier, before the media. India had claimed that Asif was killed in an encounter in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The ISPR DG called the episode another Indian false-flag operation.
How India’s Claim Unfolded
Speaking at a press conference, Chaudhry said the chain of events began on the night of September 29. The Indian Corps posted on social media that a joint search operation in the Korag area of Yousmarg had left one terrorist neutralised.
About seven hours later, the Indian Army issued a follow-up statement. It said the body of a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, named as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa, had been recovered along with war-like stores near Palmaidan.
Indian news agency ANI then ran a detailed profile of the man. It claimed he was born on March 7, 1980, joined the Pakistan Army in 2000 under service number PA-3106947 and retired as a Havildar. The report said he was inducted into the Special Services Group (SSG) in 2005 and served with 4 Commando Yalgar Battalion. It added that he was posted to Balochistan from 2006, took part in around 10 operations against Baloch insurgents and was credited with 13 kills. It also claimed he was part of former President Pervez Musharraf’s VVIP security team between 2006 and 2009.
“You might be recalling Uri, Pahalgam and Pulwama, a very interesting story is being cooked, and the story is now complete,” the ISPR DG said, adding that plenty of evidence was available. He then brought Havildar Asif before the assembled journalists, alive. Chaudhry said this dismantled India’s account and showed it to be another staged incident meant to build a Pakistani terrorist narrative in IIOJK.
He noted that India had alleged Asif was involved in attacks in several areas and had described him as a retired SSG Havildar.
Havildar Muhammad Asif: “I Am Very Much Alive”
Addressing reporters, Asif said he learned from social media that India had announced his death. “I was surprised that I was at home, so how could the Indian Army have martyred me?” he said.
He said the phone calls started coming in once reports of his alleged martyrdom surfaced. Asif said he retired from the SSG in 2023 and now works for a security company in Rawalpindi. “I am very much alive, I live in Rawalpindi and I am before you,” he told the media.
Asif said he belongs to Pindi Gheb in Attock district. Friends had called him the previous day to say Indian forces had claimed to have killed him. He rejected the allegations as baseless and fabricated, saying he had served his country bravely and was ready to serve it again.
ISPR DG Accuses India of Backing Terrorism
The ISPR DG also said India sponsors terrorist organisations to carry out attacks inside Pakistan. He said six reasons lay behind what he termed the Indian “false-flag drama” and described India as the biggest country spreading terrorism in the world.
Chaudhry added that Indian support and funding for the Muttahida Bahini and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was well known.