Pakistan’s information minister questions India’s account of a Kashmir encounter after the DG ISPR presented retired Pakistan Army soldier Muhammad Asif alive before the media.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has questioned India’s account of a reported encounter in Indian-administered Kashmir, asking authorities to identify the person whose body was recovered after former Pakistan Army soldier Muhammad Asif appeared alive at a military press conference.
In a post on X on Friday, Oct. 2, Tarar responded to a press conference by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who presented Asif before the media on Thursday, challenging Indian claims that a militant identified as Muhammad Asif, also known as Hashim Moosa, had been killed in an operation in Kashmir.
“The question which arises from DG ISPR’s Press Conference is that since M Asif is alive and well, the Indian Army must have killed an innocent Kashmiri whose body they claim to have recovered,” Tarar wrote.
He added that the Indian side had significant questions to answer following Asif’s appearance at the briefing. Tarar described the development as an embarrassment and questioned whose death Indian authorities had reported.
“Which innocent person have they killed in this fake encounter remains to be answered?” he wrote, calling on India to explain the incident.
Pakistan disputes India’s account
The controversy follows conflicting accounts of a security operation in Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian authorities reported that security forces had killed a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba commander identified as Musa, also known as Asif Fauji, during an operation. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs described the reported killing as a significant blow to the militant group.
At Thursday’s press conference, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry disputed the Indian account and introduced Muhammad Asif, who said he was alive and had retired from the Pakistan Army in 2023.
Asif said he learned about reports of his alleged death after friends contacted him. He also expressed surprise that Indian media reports had linked his identity to the person reportedly killed in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s military said the Indian account had wrongly identified Asif as the person killed in the operation. Indian authorities had not immediately commented on the Pakistani military’s assertions, according to The Associated Press.
Questions remain over the reported killing
Tarar’s statement adds to Pakistan’s official challenge to India’s account of the operation. His central question concerns the identity of the person whose body Indian authorities said they had recovered.
While Pakistan’s military has presented Asif’s appearance as evidence that the identification was incorrect, the circumstances surrounding the reported killing remain disputed between the two sides.
The incident has drawn attention to competing claims about the operation in Kashmir, a region at the center of longstanding tensions between Pakistan and India. Any further clarification from Indian authorities would be relevant to resolving the dispute over the identity of the person reported killed.
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