In a surprise military shake-up, the Pakistan Army on Wednesday announced that the powerful spy agency ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been appointed as Peshawar Corps Commander -- a crucial position in view of the Taliban's takeover of neighbouring Afghanistan.
For two decades after his release in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999, Azhar has since been the darling of Pakistan's external snooping agency Inter-Services Intelligence.
Munir was among those in Pakistan who oversaw the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, according to Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and who retired as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat.
General Bajwa remains in command as army chief and Prime Minister Imran Khan did not play any role in the reshuffle, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, a close confidant of Pakistan's Army Chief Raheel Sharif, on Friday took over as the new head of the powerful spy agency Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.
The corps commander of Karachi, Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, is most likely to the new chief.
Significantly, these 12 officers would form a major part of the team that the new army chief will inherit, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
The rather amateurish, even ham-handed, attack would lend some credence to a 'false flag' theory, of the PTI leadership staging this incident, to provide new impetus to a flagging agitation, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
In a surprise move, Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on Saturday dashed to Kabul, amidst the Taliban struggling to finalise and install an inclusive government in Afghanistan that would be acceptable to the international community.
Pakistan's ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum said on Thursday that Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a "lucrative offer" in March by the then government amidst the political turmoil, as the powerful top spy launched a veiled attack on ousted premier Imran Khan at an unprecedented press conference.
Pakistan's Federal Investigation has formed a committee to probe the distribution of Rs 140 million among politicians by the Inter-Services Intelligence for rigging the 1990 general election.
A suspected agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was arrested in Meerut on Saturday on the charge of passing defence information to the ISI, a senior police officer said.
But the ISI chief did not retire giving the impression that he has won General Asim Munir's trust, notes Rana Banerji who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'By convention, the prime minister is technically kept in the loop for the DG, ISI's appointment.' 'It remains to be seen if Prime Minister Imran Khan is able to indicate any preference by then,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The spy agency had tapped 6,523 phone numbers in February, 6,819 in March, 6,742 in April
Terror groups are building a base in south India and using the sea route to smuggle in arms and drugs.
Vikas Yadav, 39, was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the federal prosecutors claimed on Thursday in an indictment filed in a US court in New York.
Major General Asif Ghafoor's transfer indicates General Qamar Bajwa is well in control once more, pushing behind the discontent among the peer group of senior generals over extension of his tenure, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Abdul Rasheed was trying to get posting in the border areas so that he could pass on the information to ISI, said Delhi police.
"We want good ties with all neighbours including India and Afghanistan," he told the Senators.
Asma Khatoon is devastated that her husband is a Pakistani spy.
Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was arrested by the ATS, which is probing the racket, at around 9 pm on Tuesday from Meerut, Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.
The new ISI chief Lt Gen Mukhtar possesses a vast experience in the field of intelligence and has headed the counter-terrorism wing of the spy agency in Islamabad. He was commissioned in the Armoured Corps regiment in 1983.
An official at the Pakistan high commission in Colombo planned strikes on American and Israeli consulates in south India, reports Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence had held Osama Bin Laden prisoner for nearly six years in Abbottabad and handed him over to the United States in a staged raid, a media report said on Wednesday in a new controversial account of the Al Qaeda chief's death.
The use of RDX in the explosion was confirmed by experts after samples from the scene were sent for examination. While one of the bombs was laced with 1.5 kg of RDX, the other contained nearly 1 kg of RDX, the officials said.
The Taliban have confirmed that Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed has met its de facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, amidst efforts by the insurgent group to finalise a government in Afghanistan.
Arrested Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb-maker Syed Abdul Karim Tunda has told his interrogators that banned Sikh separatist outfit Babbar Khalsa International has deep ties with Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence, and is waiting for an opportunity to strike in Punjab. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The team's movement would be restricted only to the area of the engagement between security forces and the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists.
'ISI's leverage on the Kashmir insurgency turned out less than successful...'
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new Army chief to replace incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The name of Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's successor will be announced a day before he retires on November 29, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Friday.
General Bajwa gets inputs from his senior officers, but he has the final word, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
High alert has been sounded across India that five members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, who had fled from a Madhya Pradesh jail in 2013, are planning to carry out terror strikes on instructions of Pakistan's spy agency Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.
Intelligence Bureau agents tell Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com that Dr Ved Pratap Vaidik's meeting with terrorist Muhammad Saeed will only benefit the ISI.
'The Americans never or hardly give complete information, only information that directly affects them is shared.' Indian intelligence agents challenge The Siege's version of the 26/11 attacks in conversations with Vicky Nanjappa.
As many as 17 three star generals will retire before General Bajwa hangs his boots, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'I reported to two people at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo and informed them about my reconnaissance activities, which I carried out under the guise of being a footwear exporter. I photographed various sensitive locations, including nuclear stations and the US consulate in Chennai.' These comments made by alleged ISI spy Zaheed Hussain reveal how Pakistan is playing an active role in spreading terror in the country. Vicky Nanjappa presents an excerpt of his confession.
'Employment of dedicated lightweight special forces aircraft may provide the answer for repeat anti-terror air strikes with surprise elements intact, the cost benefit assured and attrition minimal,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), India's former air adviser in Pakistan.
The Punjab Police on Thursday arrested the second shooter involved in the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh Sandhu last year.
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