Ex-Pakistan Army Officer Says ISI Special Op Boss Coordinated Pahalgam Terror Attack

Major Adil Raja has disclosed to ABP News that Pakistan's ISI DG Shahab Aslam directly oversaw the Pahalgam terrorist attack, coordinating with the attackers from Islamabad over phone.

File photos of Adil Raja and Shahab Aslam.

Source : Shivank Mishra

Retired Pakistani Army officer Major Adil Raja recently disclosed that during the April 22 terrorist attack in the Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, the Director General of Special Operations of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, General Shahab Aslam, was himself in direct contact with the terrorists and was monitoring the entire operation.

Speaking exclusively to ABP News, Major Raja said that Shahab Aslam was not only issuing instructions, but was even overseeing the attack in real-time from Islamabad.

According to Major Adil Raja, formerly of the '18 Horse Regiment' of the Pakistan Army, the order for the Pahalgam attack was issued by then Army Chief General Asim Munir to ISI Chief Asim Malik. Following this, ISI chief Malik entrusted his most trusted officer, DG Special Operations Shahab Aslam, with the responsibility to execute the operation.

Raja said he has evidence proving that Shahab Aslam was using two phone numbers — +92xxxxxx8714 and +92xxxxxxx997 — linked to his National Identity Card, to coordinate directly with the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack.

In his interview with ABP News, Adil Raja stated that the proof of Shahab Aslam's involvement was provided to him by insiders currently working within the ISI. These sources confirmed that Shahab Aslam was speaking to the attackers from the ISI headquarters in Islamabad, directing the course of the operation over the phone.

This isn't the first time Major Raja has revealed Pakistan's military involvement in the Pahalgam attack. On May 5, he told ABP News that the attack was orchestrated at the behest of then Army Chief Asim Munir.

Due to his continuous exposure to the Pakistani military and the ISI, Adil Raja and his family were subjected to harassment. A few years ago, Raja released evidence showing financial corruption within the Pakistan Army and the ISI's manipulation of regime changes, including the orchestration of former PM Imran Khan's arrest. Following these revelations, Pakistan's military responded by filing a sham counter-terrorism case against him in a UK court. 

Subsequently, an ISI officer filed a defamation case against Raja in Britain in an attempt to suppress further disclosures. Over the past three years, Major Adil Raja has consistently exposed the ISI's undemocratic actions and its funding of terrorism with documented evidence. To silence him, ISI weaponised the legal system and targeted his family, still residing in Pakistan. 

Raja told ABP News that his mother and sister have been placed under house arrest. They are not allowed to leave their residence or even speak to him on the phone. He further alleged that just a few months ago, male officers of the Pakistani military physically assaulted his mother and sister, pulling their hair and dragging them as a form of intimidation.

These latest allegations by Adil Raja against Field Marshal Asim Munir and top ISI officials in the context of the Pahalgam attack are not isolated. The ISI has long been accused of orchestrating and facilitating terrorist attacks on Indian soil. Investigations have repeatedly shown that Pakistan's intelligence agency provides training, logistical support, and financial backing to terrorist groups that infiltrate India to carry out attacks.

Not just in India, Pakistan's hand in global terrorism has also been exposed in Afghanistan. In recent months, a major suicide bombing by the Islamic State in Afghanistan, which killed a top government official, was traced back to Pakistan. Investigators found that the suicide bomber had received training in Pakistan's Balochistan province, where an Islamic State training camp is located. The Afghan government has been accusing Pakistan of sheltering and supporting IS operatives with evidence stretching over several years.