Pakistan military spokesman accuses India of 'another false-flag' operation

Pakistan’s military spokesman accused India on Thursday of staging “another false-flag” operation, at a press conference in Rawalpindi reported by Geo News.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said he would address “a so-called terrorist incident, a false flag that has been staged by the Indian political military”, Dawn reported.

The briefing followed Indian media reports that a man wanted over the April 2025 Pahalgam attack had been killed during an “encounter” in Korag, Yousmarg, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Chaudhry presented a five-point timeline beginning on September 29, reading out a Chinar Corps social media post which, he said, claimed Indian Army, police and CRPF personnel had launched the operation on joint intelligence reports.

Indian outlets, citing unnamed “sources”, named the dead man as Mohammad Asif, claiming he was affiliated with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba and had served in the Pakistan Army. India’s ANI news agency reported that Asif, alias Hashim Moosa, was “wanted in the Pahalgam terror attack” — a claim repeated by the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps.

The allegation follows months of tension: New Delhi previously linked the Pahalgam attack to Pakistan without evidence, Dawn notes, triggering a four-day conflict in May 2025 that ended with an American-brokered ceasefire.

Dawn carried no Indian government response to Chaudhry’s allegation, and the press conference was still ongoing at publication.

Sources

• Dawn — “DG ISPR addresses media on ‘another false-flag’ by India”: https://www.dawn.com/news/2033963/dg-ispr-addresses-media-on-another-false-flag-by-india
• Geo News — live blog, “ISPR DG Chaudhry addresses press conference”: https://www.geo.tv/latest/684543-ispr-dg-chaudhry-addresses-press-conference