Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry lampooned India’s claims of “neutralising” a “terrorist” allegedly linked to the Pakistani military, presenting the individual during a press conference on Thursday.

The press conference 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.

Addressing the media, the DG ISPR said he would talk “about a so-called terrorist incident, a false flag that has been staged by the Indian political military”.

He presented a five-point timeline, showing that the whole scenario began on Sept 29.

“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 DG ISPR then referred to another post by Chinar Corps on Sept 30 morning that claimed the Indian forces had found the body of a “Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist”.

The military spokesperson noted that later, India’s ANI news outlet claimed that the deceased had been identified as Mohammad Asif, who had been inducted into the Special Services Group (SSG).

The DG ISPR went on to say that India’s home affairs ministry and Press Information Bureau also reiterated the supposed details.

India’s home affairs ministry said the neutralisation of “Musa alias Asif Fauji” was part of an “ongoing long-sustained Operation Sheruwali” that was launched in May.

“After six months of hard work, Musa alias Asif Fauji has been neutralised. Congratulations, applause,” Lt Gen Chaudhry retorted.

He then read out India’s claims of Asif’s so-called 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 then noted that the Indian government 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 their forces had killed “four senior LeT commanders”.

He took a jibe at Indian media too for highlighting the claims: “Now they said, ‘Let’s jump in’.

“So there comes News18, Statesman, India Today, Hindustan Times, ABP Live, Indian Express,” he said, as he displayed the screengrabs of these outlets’ reports on the matter.

The DG ISPR then called Asif to join him during the presser, who 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 narrated: “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.”

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 that he informed his unit about the reports to clarify his position, and the unit asked him to block all the numbers calling from India and said that ISPR officials would contact him.

Sharing details about himself, Asif said that he joined the Pakistan Army in the year 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 as “false, ignominious and disreputable”.

“I condemn this. By the grace of God, I am alive and present before you.“

He further affirmed that he performed his duties with courage and that Pakistan responds face to face, not from behind.

‘Six reasons behind such dramas’

Taking on the mic, the DG ISPR maintained that there were “six reasons” behind “such dramas” by India against Pakistan.

“It is a very shameful and embarrassing thing. No self-respecting nation does this.”

Explaining the first reason, Lt Gen Chaudhry said that India did those 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 highlighted that 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 the “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 brought attention to India’s 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.

The DG ISPR then identified the second reason for the claims as the 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, noting 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 the “oppression” being committed 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.”

The third reason, the DG ISPR said, was India’s “obsession with Pakistan”.

He remarked: “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.

“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.

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, declaring 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.”

Fifth reason, as per 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 like it controls its media.

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.”

Asked about 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.”

Indian media’s claims

Indian media had claimed that the supposedly slain 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.

It may be recalled that Indian media and authorities had made several allegations regarding Pakistani involvement in the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, but failed to substantiate them.

“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.

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 news report stated, adding that Asif was also part of the security detail of former president Pervez Musharraf.

It was stated by ANI 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.

In May 2025, a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India was sparked by an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked to Pakistan.

Islamabad had strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.

After New Delhi launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7, Pakistan said it downed at least six Indian aircraft in air-to-air combat, later raising the tally to eight.

After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.

During that conflict, Indian media had been heavily criticised for beating the war drums and regurgitating fake news fed by Indian government sources. Many mainstream Indian channels had also aired inflammatory anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim content.

India’s ranking in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index has deteriorated sharply over the past decade. The country ranked 122nd in 2010 but fell to 157th out of 180 countries in 2026.

In April, on the first anniversary of the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan had rejected a renewed Indian propaganda campaign linking it to the attack, deploring that the neighbouring country was focusing on “weaponising its false narrative” in the midst of a regional crisis sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran.