DG ISPR presents former Pakistani soldier Mohammad Asif aliv

DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry exposed India's claim of killing former Pakistani soldier Mohammad Asif in Kashmir, presenting him alive at a press conference. Asif said he was at home when Indian media reported his death, while the DG ISPR called the episode a false flag. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif presents Mohammad Asif at presser after Indian media reported him killed in Kashmir DG ISPR walks reporters through timeline of Indian Army, govt and media claims Military spokesperson says episode aimed at covering 'terrorism', Kashmir oppression and Pakistan obsession DG ISPR warns any Indian military misadventure will invite 'very, very severe' consequences Asif says he was at home when reports emerged, received calls seeking his personal details Asif says he joined Army in 2000, SSG in 2005 and retired as havaldar in 2023 RAWALPINDI: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday ridiculed India's claim of having 'neutralised' a 'terrorist' allegedly linked to the Pakistan military, presenting the man alive at a news conference a day after Indian media published his photograph and reported him to be a commander killed in an operation in Kashmir. The military spokesperson described the episode as a 'false flag', walking reporters through Indian military statements, government releases and media reports which he said had 'progressively connected the slain militant to former soldier Asif's identity'. Addressing the media, the DG ISPR said he would speak 'about a so-called terrorist incident, a false flag that has been staged by the Indian political military'. He presented a five-point timeline, saying the entire sequence began on Sept 29. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry provides detailed evidence to counter India's latest false flag 🚩Operation targeting the Pakistan Armed Forces during his press conference. 🟥Havildar Mohammed Asif of the Special Service Group (SSG) is alive !#DGISPR #Pakistan #ISPR pic.twitter.com/8xLyqffEiI — Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) October 1, 2026 'On the night of Sep 29, the Indian corps deployed in IIOK made a tweet, claiming that, based on joint intelligence reports, the Indian Army, police and CRPF launched an operation in general area of Korag, Yousmarg,' he read from a social media post by Chinar Corps. The press briefing came after Indian media reported that an individual wanted in connection with the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack last year had been killed during an 'encounter' in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir's Korag area. The DG ISPR then referred to another post by Chinar Corps on the morning of Sept 30, which claimed that Indian forces had recovered the body of a 'Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist'. He noted that India's ANI news outlet later claimed that the deceased had been identified as Mohammad Asif, who had been inducted into the Special Services Group (SSG). The DG ISPR said India's Ministry of Home Affairs and Press Information Bureau also reiterated the narrative. India's Ministry of Home Affairs said the neutralisation of 'Musa alias Asif Fauji' was part of an 'ongoing long-sustained Operation Sheruwali' launched in May. 'After six months of hard work, Musa alias Asif Fauji has been neutralised. Congratulations, applause,' Lt Gen Chaudhry retorted. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry warns India, stop peddling false allegations to fuel war rhetoric Come in front and fight us and we will teach you a lesson that your generations will remember !#DGISPR #Pakistan #ISPR pic.twitter.com/PcfpNQz94g — Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) October 1, 2026 He then read out Indian claims regarding Asif's alleged involvement in various attacks: 'Halan attack August 23, DKG attack December 23, Kandi attack May 2023, Shah Sitar attack May 2024, Shiv Khori attack June 2024, Gagangeer attack October 2024, Boota Pahari attack October 2024, and Basira attack April 2025.' The DG ISPR noted that the Indian government had also claimed to have neutralised three other 'members of the group'. 'After this [press conference], the shameful characters will have at least the shame to delete this,' he remarked. The DG ISPR also read out the Indian PIB's narrative, which said its forces had killed 'four senior LeT commanders'. He took a jibe at Indian media for highlighting the claims. 'Now they said, 'Let's jump in',' he remarked. 'So there comes News18, Statesman, India Today, Hindustan Times, ABP Live, Indian Express,' he said, displaying screengrabs of reports published by the outlets. The DG ISPR then called Asif to join him during the press conference. Asif said he was a resident of Attock district. 'So here is that superman. You can see this superman. Please, come, my brother. Tell us about these achievements of yours, what all you have been doing,' Lt Gen Chaudhry quipped. 'Here, alive and healthy' Speaking before the media, Asif said: 'Yesterday, some friends called me and told me there were reports on social media that I had been martyred by the Indian army in Kashmir. 'To their concerns, I responded that I was here, alive and healthy.' A journalist asks DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, 🟥 PTI is once again holding a long march and details have emerged that military officials held a meeting in Adiala jail ⚠️Listen to DG ISPR's response #DGISPR #Pakistan #ISPR pic.twitter.com/bkSy7UHHD0 — Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) October 1, 2026 Asif said he also received calls from Indian numbers asking him for his personal information, identity, whereabouts and his connection with the claims. 'Through ANI on social media, I became aware of the reports that Indian media, using my personal data, had named me as a martyr in an operation in Kashmir,' Asif said. 'I was surprised by whatever was happening as I was sitting in my home,' he remarked. Following the reports, Asif said he informed his unit about them to clarify his position. The unit asked him to block all numbers calling from India and said that ISPR officials would contact him. Sharing details about himself, Asif said he joined the Pakistan Army in 2000. 'In 2005, I joined the SSG, performed my duty with courage for 18 years, and retired in 2023.' Asif added that he had also worked for a private security company for three years. 'For the past three or four months, I have been living with my family in our home in Rawalpindi.' He termed the Indian allegations 'false, ignominious and disreputable'. 'I condemn this. By the grace of God, I am alive and present before you.' He further affirmed that he had performed his duties with courage and that Pakistan responded face to face, not from behind. 'Six reasons behind such dramas' Taking the microphone, the DG ISPR maintained that there were 'six reasons' behind what he described as 'such dramas' by India against Pakistan. 'It is a very shameful and embarrassing thing. No self-respecting nation does this.' 'Cover own track of terrorism' Explaining the first reason, Lt Gen Chaudhry said India staged such theatrics to 'cover its own track of terrorism'. 'So, there has to be some good reason,' he added. 'India is the biggest sponsor of terrorism and a terrorist state in the world,' the DG ISPR declared. 'And its implication, involvement, direct and indirect terrorism in the region goes back decades,' he added. 'Whether it's Mukti Bahini or LTT, and now the TTP, BLA, and their funding, sponsorship and planning. It (India) has now become a victim of its own trait.' The military spokesperson said this terrorism was also 'now taking on an internal dimension'. He elaborated: 'They are not just terrorising the region or countries around the region; they are terrorising the Muslims inside India, and also the Kashmiris, Sikhs, Dalits, Christians, [residents of] Manipur, and tribals. 'Some country which lives and breathes terrorism is at the same time very afraid that their dark face will be exposed, so they have to cover their tracks. What better way to cover their tracks than to start calling everyone else a terrorist?' Lt Gen Chaudhry then played a video clip on what he described as 'decades of lies that they have been feeding to their own people as well as to the world at large'. He accused India of jailing Muslim Kashmiris, adding: 'They take them out, kill them, and stage that as a false flag operation, portraying it as a terrorist act.' The DG ISPR quipped: 'This time they went ahead; they said this is not very spicy, let's take an army soldier of Pakistan and portray him as one that we have killed.' He then referred to India's alleged involvement in transnational killings, saying, 'This habit of false flag operations has further encouraged India to go for transnational killings.' He added, 'Everyone whom they don't like, they start calling terrorists, because they see their image.' The military spokesperson then played a video containing a clip of an Afghan minister saying 'our DNA is one' as he referred to India. 'That is the illegitimate child of this terrorism, which is on our western border,' Lt Gen Chaudhry said, referring to Afghanistan. 'Because what better opportunity than to give this dirty work to someone who is ready to do it for certain coins and dollars and money,' he retorted. 'Oppression in occupied Kashmir' The DG ISPR identified the second reason as developments in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, describing it as the 'biggest garrison of the world'. 'What's happening in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir plays a big role in the psyche and in the cognitive domain of these Indians,' he asserted. 'For every 10th Kashmiri, there is an Indian soldier or a security person. There are nearly 1 million military, security, and intelligence CRPF and law enforcement there,' he pointed out, while referring to other acts such as arrests and demolition of houses. 'And you cannot subside them; you cannot take out their desire to be counted. It's a simple desire,' Lt Gen Chaudhry said, noting that Kashmiris wanted the right of self-determination as promised in a United Nations Security Council resolution. He stated that New Delhi had to stage such incidents to 'portray that Kashmiris have no problem', whereas the reality was otherwise due to what he described as 'oppression' against them. 'You have an internal problem, a great internal problem of oppression, of torture. [But] you don't want to address it; you want to externalise it. You cannot externalise your internal issues. You cannot put this blame on Muhammad Asif.' 'Obsession with Pakistan' The third reason, the DG ISPR said, was India's 'obsession with Pakistan'. 'I think Pakistan, over a period of time, has got on their nerves so much that whatever happens, they want to put it on Pakistan,' he remarked. 'And therefore, their politico-military leadership imagination and faculties have somehow been constrained and restricted. […] And that's why we keep on requesting them very politely, asking them, please grow up.' The military spokesperson, as in May last year, urged India to come forward with evidence if it had any behind its claims and allegations. 'If you are not ready to give proof to us, you can give it to any third party,' he offered. 'Bollywood influence' Lt Gen Chaudhry stated that the fourth reason was New Delhi being 'very much influenced' by Bollywood, adding that 'they have turned into encounter-istan from Hindustan'. 'It is the story that is important; the facts are not important to Indians,' he said, describing claims by India and its media as 'fiction'. He quipped that for India, the 'story should be clear, the story should be spicy'. 'There should be action in it; it should be entertaining […] make the encounter look real, throw in a Pakistani — just an ordinary Pakistani won't be fun, let's put in a havaldar, let's put in an SSG guard, then it will be thrilling.' 'Shining India delusion' The fifth reason, according to the DG ISPR, was a 'delusional 'Shining India' complex' that the neighbour had. 'They think that they are great,' he said, recalling the field marshal's remarks that 'they are great without greatness'. 'They are historical without history, and the shine — this is the shine that you are seeing. It is not shine; it is shame,' he remarked, contending that India presumed it could 'control the mind' of others in the world as it controls its media. 'Politicisation of military' At last, the military spokesperson explained that the 'politicisation' of the Indian military was another reason behind such tactics. 'We cannot comprehend that we would be able to come out with such a story and such claims which don't exist,' he said. He asserted that the Indian brigade, corps commander and army commander allowed this and took responsibility for it 'because you are a political army now'. 'Your [Indian Army] agenda is Hindutva-driven. Your agenda is pleasing your political masters.' Lt Gen Chaudhry added: 'Unfortunately, we have to deal with such a wretched and low-life kind of enemy. It is unfortunate that we have such a neighbour who is an encounter specialist. 'This is what the world, Pakistan, particularly the region, and the world at large is facing.' India warned of 'very harsh retribution' Asked whether the recent allegations could trigger another armed conflict between the neighbours, the DG ISPR affirmed that Pakistan's armed forces were always ready for any such move and warned of a 'very harsh' retribution. 'As a consequence of this false flag, which has been exposed very early in its infancy, if they want to do anything, most welcome. 'But let it be clear, and we have clarified it before also, that this time we will not leave them so easily. This time the cost that Pakistan would inflict on their strategic folly will be very, very severe.' He reiterated: 'If they think that they want to build this drama, any other drama, and on the basis of that they want to do it, they can try their luck.' He also disputed the impression that the international community had failed to respond to India's alleged transnational killings. While noting that the Foreign Office could give a more nuanced reply, he said, 'I think the Indian facade is very well exposed to the whole world.' Lt Gen Chaudhry recalled that a US secretary of state, former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Australian leaders were among those who had raised concerns about such killings. Responding to another query, the DG ISPR described India as 'unreliable' and 'a country which believes in deceit, terrorism and which believes in having their own hegemony in the region'. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry finishes off the press conference with some humour…. Journalist asks DG ISPR, how will SSG Havildar Mohammed Asif respond legally to India's false allegations?#DGISPR #Pakistan #India #ISPR pic.twitter.com/r4gUgolI44 — Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) October 1, 2026 'So, the only guarantee of peace against such a country is our own strength.' Asked about the current status of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was captured in Balochistan in March 2016, the military spokesperson said the law ministry was the relevant forum to approach. 'Whether he is alive or dead, it is smeared on India's face and will remain so.' Responding to other questions, the DG ISPR also reaffirmed Pakistan's right to self-defence against terror attacks emanating from Afghanistan, and declared that the counterterror fight 'cannot be sacrificed at the altar of anyone's politics'. Indian media's claims Indian media had claimed that the individual was affiliated with the banned LeT and was a soldier of the Pakistan military. The claim, attributed to 'sources', named the individual as Mohammad Asif. Indian media and authorities had also made several allegations regarding Pakistani involvement in the April 2025 Pahalgam incident. Islamabad had strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation. 'Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa was born on 07 March 1980. He joined the Pakistan Army in 2000 under service number PA-3106947 and retired with the rank of Havildar,' India's ANI reported on Thursday. Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Moosa was born on 07 March 1980. He joined the Pakistan Army in 2000 under service number PA-3106947 and retired with the rank of Havildar. In 2005, Mohammad Asif was inducted into the Special Services Group (SSG). He served with 4 Commando 'Yalgar'… https://t.co/bQWmFFDuFF pic.twitter.com/dGgtr7fMeI — ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2026 Korag encounter in J&K | Body of Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, identified as Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Musa, who was wanted in the Pahalgam terror attack, recovered along with war-like stores Following the 22nd April Pahalgam terror attack, J&K Police had released a… https://t.co/q39FcEr1Pq pic.twitter.com/tm10s2YAeV — ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2026 It also provided a detailed profile of Asif. 'In 2005, Mohammad Asif was inducted into the Special Services Group (SSG). He served with 4 Commando 'Yalgar' Battalion and was posted to Balochistan from 2006 onward. During his deployment in Balochistan, he reportedly participated in approximately 10 operations against Baloch insurgents and is credited with 13 personal kills,' the ANI report stated, adding that Asif was also part of the security detail of former president Pervez Musharraf. OP KORAG, Yousmarg Based on specific intelligence input, a Joint Search Operation was launched by #IndianArmy, @JmuKmrPolice and @crpf_srinagar in general area Korag, Yousmarg. Vigilant troops observed suspicious activity and upon being challenged, terrorists opened fire,… — Chinar Corps🍁 - Indian Army (@ChinarcorpsIA) September 29, 2026 ANI stated that Asif was 'wanted in the Pahalgam terror attack', and the claim was repeated by the Indian Army's Chinar Corps, part of the Northern Command and headquartered in occupied Kashmir. The corps' primary area of responsibility is the Kashmir area of operations.