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{{Short description|Military intelligence service of Pakistan}} | ||
{{Pp|small=yes}} | |||
{{Cleanup reorganize|date=March 2022}} | |||
{{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2015}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} | |||
{{Infobox government agency | |||
| agency_name = Inter-Services Intelligence | |||
| type = ] | |||
| motto = {{nowrap|{{lang|ar|خُذُواحِذرُکُم}} {{Cite quran|4|71}}}}<br /> "take your precautions" (]) | |||
| nativename_a = {{nq|بین الخدماتی استخبارات}} | |||
| logo = ISI Emblem.png | |||
| logo_width = 200px | |||
| logo_caption = Insignia of the ISI | |||
| seal = | |||
| seal_width = | |||
| seal_caption = | |||
| formed = {{Start date and age|1948|1|1|df=y}} | |||
| preceding1 = | |||
| preceding2 = | |||
| superseding = | |||
| jurisdiction = | |||
| headquarters = ], ], ]<ref name="Walshreally" /> | |||
| coordinates = {{Coord|33|42|14.3|N|73|04|47.0|E}} | |||
| employees = ~10,000 (2009)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/05/pakistan-inter-services-intelligence-directorate|title=Pakistan: How the ISI works|date=5 August 2009|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> | |||
| budget = | |||
| chief1_name = ] ] | |||
| chief1_position = ] | |||
| chief2_name = | |||
| chief2_position = | |||
| chief3_name = | |||
| chief3_position = | |||
| chief4_name = | |||
| chief4_position = | |||
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| chief5_position = | |||
| chief6_name = | |||
| chief6_position = | |||
| chief7_name = | |||
| chief7_position = | |||
| chief8_name = | |||
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| chief9_name = | |||
| chief9_position = | |||
| parent_department = | |||
| parent_agency = | |||
| child1_agency = ] | |||
| child2_agency = | |||
}} | |||
The '''Inter-Services Intelligence''' ('''ISI'''; {{langx|ur|{{nq|بین الخدماتی استخبارات}}|translit=bain-al-xidmātī istixbārāt}}) is the premier ] of ]. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant to Pakistan's ]. The ISI reports to ] and is primarily focused on providing intelligence to the ]. | |||
The ISI primarily consists of serving ] drawn on ] from the three service branches of the ]: the ], ], and ], hence the name "Inter-Services"; the agency also recruits civilians. Since 1971, it has been formally headed by a serving ] of the Pakistan Army, who is appointed by the ] in consultation with the ], who recommends three officers for the position. As of 30 September 2024, the ISI is headed by ] ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1653379|title=PM Imran appoints Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as new DG ISI|first=Naveed|last=Siddiqui|date=26 October 2021|website=DAWN.COM}}</ref> The Director-General reports directly to both the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff. | |||
Relatively unknown outside of Pakistan since its inception, the agency gained global recognition and fame in the 1980s when it backed the ] against the ] during the ] in the former ]. Over the course of the conflict, the ISI worked in close coordination with the ] of the ] and the ] of the ] to run ], a program to train and fund the mujahideen in Afghanistan with support from ], ], and other ].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Pear|first1=Robert|date=18 April 1988|title=Arming Afghan Guerrillas: A Huge Effort Led by U.S. (Published 1988)|language=en-US|work=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/18/world/arming-afghan-guerrillas-a-huge-effort-led-by-us.html|access-date=7 February 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709124837/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/18/world/arming-afghan-guerrillas-a-huge-effort-led-by-us.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=18 November 2015|title=We created Islamic extremism: Those blaming Islam for ISIS would have supported Osama bin Laden in the '80s|url=https://www.salon.com/2015/11/17/we_created_islamic_extremism_those_blaming_islam_for_isis_would_have_supported_osama_bin_laden_in_the_80s/|access-date=7 February 2021|website=]|language=en|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120191804/https://www.salon.com/2015/11/17/we_created_islamic_extremism_those_blaming_islam_for_isis_would_have_supported_osama_bin_laden_in_the_80s/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=22 May 2020|title=9/11 convict: Osama Bin Laden a 'useful idiot' of the CIA|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200522-9-11-convict-osama-bin-laden-a-useful-idiot-of-the-cia/|access-date=7 February 2021|website=]|language=en-GB|archive-date=9 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209150136/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200522-9-11-convict-osama-bin-laden-a-useful-idiot-of-the-cia/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Following the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, the ] and intelligence to the ] against the ] during the ] in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rediff.com/us/2002/jan/24ny2.htm |title=Rediff.com US edition: India protests airlift of Pakistanis from Kunduz |access-date=24 December 2018 |archive-date=25 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525191655/https://www.rediff.com/us/2002/jan/24ny2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sky">{{cite journal |author=Matt Waldman |date=June 2010 |title=The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents |journal=Crisis States Working Papers |publisher=Crisis States Research Centre, ] and Political Science |issue=series no.2, no. 18 |page=3 |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Documents/2010/6/13/20106138531279734lse-isi-taliban.pdf |quote=In the 1980s the ISI was instrumental in supporting seven Sunni Muslim mujahideen groups in their jihad against the Soviets and was the principal conduit of covert US and Saudi funding. It subsequently played a pivotal role in the emergence of the Taliban (Coll 2005:292) and Pakistan provided significant political, financial, military and logistical support to the former ] regime in ] (1996–2001)(Rashid 2001). |access-date=16 October 2011 |archive-date=26 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226000552/http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Documents/2010/6/13/20106138531279734lse-isi-taliban.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Steve Coll|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=]|publisher=]|year=2004|isbn=9781594200076|pages=289–297|quote=Yet ISI's ambition was greater than its purse. Pakistan's army suffered from acute money problems during 1995. The army commanded the lion's share of Pakistan's budget, but with American aid cut over the nuclear issue, there was not much to go around. ... As it had during the 1980s, ISI needed Saudi intelligence, and it needed wealthy Islamist patrons from the Persian Gulf. ... The Pakistanis were advertising the Taliban to the Saudis as an important new force on the Afghan scene. ... The scale of Saudi payments and subsidies to Pakistan's army and intelligence service during the mid-1990s has never been disclosed. Judging by the practices of the previous decade, direct transfers and oil price subsidies to Pakistan's military probably amounted in some years to at least several hundred million dollars. This bilateral support helped ISI build up its proxy jihad forces in both Kashmir and Afghanistan.}}</ref> The ISI has strong links with ] groups, particularly in ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) {{!}} World news {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/inter-services-intelligence-isi |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-05-03 |title=Pakistan's shadowy secret service, the ISI |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13272009 |access-date=2023-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=2011-04-25 |title=Guantánamo Bay files: Pakistan's ISI spy service listed as terrorist group |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-isi-inter-services-intelligence |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=2011-05-12 |title=Whose side is Pakistan's ISI really on? |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/12/isi-bin-laden-death-pakistan-alqaida |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="firstpost.com">{{Cite web|date=2011-07-21|title=ISI sponsors terror activities in Kashmir, FBI tells US court|url=https://www.firstpost.com/politics/isi-sponsors-terror-activities-in-kashmir-fbi-tells-us-court-46038.html|access-date=2021-09-22|website=Firstpost}}</ref><ref name="rediff.com">{{Cite web|title=ISI gives arms to Kashmir terrorists: Rana to FBI - Rediff.com News|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-isi-gives-arms-to-kashmiri-terrorists-rana-to-fbi/20110607.htm|access-date=2021-09-22|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref> Its special warfare unit is the ]. The ] (FBI), in their first ever open acknowledgement in 2011 in US Court, said that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsors and oversees the ] by arming separatist militant groups.<ref name="firstpost.com" /><ref name="rediff.com" /> | |||
==History== | |||
The Inter-Services Intelligence was established in 1948. It was the ] of Major General ], then Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army, following the ] which had exposed weaknesses in intelligence gathering, sharing, and coordination between the army, air force, navy, ] (IB) and ] (MI).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The ISI was structured to be operated by officers from the three main military services and to specialize in the collection, analysis, and assessment of external military and non-military intelligence.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} | |||
While Cawthorn established the ISI, it was ] who was tasked with fully setting up the agency. In a confidential report to the Joint Service Commander's Committee, Cawthorn wrote: "In October 1948, Brigadier Shahid Hamid was assigned the task of building this organization from scratch. Despite significant challenges, such as the lack of experienced personnel and essential records, as well as continued staff shortages, he successfully developed the Directorate into a functional organization. He also gained the trust and cooperation of the Service Intelligence authorities in the United Kingdom. Although much remains to be done, Brigadier Shahid Hamid has achieved far more than seemed possible when he took on the task less than two years ago."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dailyausaf.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/1038591373-1687412066-1540449781.jpg.avif|title=Joint Service Commanders' Committee: Inter Services Intelligence Directorate|date=25 August 1950}}</ref> | |||
Naval ] ], who served as Deputy Director ] and helped formulate ISI procedure, undertook and managed the recruitment and expansion of the ISI. After the ], all national intelligence agencies were directly controlled by the president and ]. The maintenance of national security, which was the principal function of these agencies, resulted in the consolidation of the Ayub regime. Any criticism of the regime was seen as a threat to national security.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frederic |first=Grare |date=6 March 2009 |title=Reforming the Intelligence Agencies in Pakistan's Transitional Democracy |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/2009/03/06/reforming-intelligence-agencies-in-pakistan-s-transitional-democracy-pub-22817 |url-status=live |access-date=7 July 2021 |website=] |archive-date=17 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217123321/https://carnegieendowment.org/2009/03/06/reforming-intelligence-agencies-in-pakistan-s-transitional-democracy-pub-22817 }}</ref> | |||
On 5 July 1977 through ], the ISI began collecting intelligence on the ] and the ].<ref name="ISI History 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LANCER/idr00006.htm|title=ISI|access-date=12 May 2008|first=Bharat|last=rakshak|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704195306/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LANCER/idr00006.htm|archive-date=4 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The ] in the 1980s saw the enhancement of the ISI's ]. A special Afghanistan section known as the SS Directorate was created under the command of Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf to oversee day-to-day operations in Afghanistan. Officers from the ISI's ] received training in the United States, and "many covert action experts of the CIA were attached to the ISI to guide it in its operations against Soviet troops by using the Afghan Mujahideen".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pakistan Intelligence & Security Activities & Operations Handbook |publisher=USA International Business Publications |year=2009 |isbn= 978-1438737218 |pages=41}}</ref> | |||
Many analysts (mainly Indian and American) believe that the ISI provides support to militant groups, though others think these allegations remain unsubstantiated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/05/coll-likely-bin-laden-successor-will-struggle.html |title=Steve Coll: "Zawahiri's record suggests he will struggle" |work=] |publisher=] |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=17 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113140533/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/05/coll-likely-bin-laden-successor-will-struggle.html |archive-date=13 November 2011 |df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="CSIS">{{Citation |last1=Cordesman |first1=Anthony H. |last2=Vira |first2=Varun |date=7 June 2011 |title=Pakistan: Violence vs. Stability — A National Net Assessment |publisher=] |pages=183–184 |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/pakistan-violence-vs-stability |place=Washington, DC |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-date=22 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122153406/https://www.csis.org/analysis/pakistan-violence-vs-stability |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The ISI has often been accused of playing a role in major ] across India including ], the ],<ref>{{Cite news|date=2006-09-30|title=Pakistan 'role in Mumbai attacks'|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5394686.stm|access-date=2021-09-22}}</ref> the ],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2001-12-17|title=Terrorist Attack on the Parliament of India - December 13, 2001|url=http://www.indianembassy.org/new/parliament_dec_13_01.htm#STATEMENT%20MADE%20BY%20HOME%20MINISTER,%20L.%20K.%20ADVANI%20ON%20THE%20TERRORIST%20ATTACK%20ON%20PARLIAMENT%20HOUSE%20ON%20DECEMBER%2013,%202001|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011217035306/http://www.indianembassy.org/new/parliament_dec_13_01.htm#STATEMENT%20MADE%20BY%20HOME%20MINISTER,%20L.%20K.%20ADVANI%20ON%20THE%20TERRORIST%20ATTACK%20ON%20PARLIAMENT%20HOUSE%20ON%20DECEMBER%2013,%202001|archive-date=17 December 2001}}</ref> the ], the ],<ref>{{Cite web|last=John|first=Wilson|title=Hyderabad blasts: The ISI hand|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/25guest.htm|access-date=2021-09-22|website=Rediff|language=en}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. official: Indian attack has Pakistani ties|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28015877|access-date=2021-09-22|website=NBC News|date=2 December 2008 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Syed|first=Baqir Sajjad|date=2008-12-06|title=Rice tells Pakistan to act 'or US will'|url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/333307/rice-tells-pakistan-to-act-or-us-will|access-date=2021-09-22|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> | |||
The ISI has been accused of supporting ] forces<ref name="Pakistan's shadowy secret service">{{Cite news|date=2006-10-09|title=Pakistan's shadowy secret service|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6033383.stm|access-date=2021-09-22}}</ref> and recruiting and training ]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-10-11|title=Telegraph {{!}} News {{!}} Nato's top brass accuse Pakistan over Taliban aid|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/06/wafghan06.xml|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011085504/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/06/wafghan06.xml|archive-date=11 October 2006}}</ref> to fight in Afghanistan<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|date=2007-01-21|title=At Border, Signs of Pakistani Role in Taliban Surge|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21quetta.html|access-date=2021-09-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and Kashmir. Based on communication interceptions, US intelligence agencies concluded Pakistan's ISI was behind the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on 7 July 2008, a charge that the governments of India and Afghanistan had laid previously.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Mazzetti|first1=Mark|last2=Schmitt|first2=Eric|date=2008-08-01|title=Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html|access-date=2021-09-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It is believed to be aiding these organisations in eradicating perceived enemies or those opposed to their cause, including India, Russia, China, ], the ], the ], and other members of ].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-06-05|title=Profile: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) (a.k.a. Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Lashkar e-Toiba; Lashkar-i-Taiba) - Council on Foreign Relations|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/17882/|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605151918/http://www.cfr.org/publication/17882/|archive-date=5 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2010-05-03|title=Profile: Lashkar-e-Taiba|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3181925.stm|access-date=2021-09-22}}</ref> Satellite imagery from the ]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-03-10|title=DNA - World - FBI identifies terror camp in Pakistan through satellite pictures - Daily News & Analysis|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1044850|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310220755/http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1044850|archive-date=10 March 2007}}</ref> suggest the existence of several terrorist camps in Pakistan, with at least one militant admitting to being trained in the country. As part of the ongoing ], Pakistan is alleged to be backing separatist militias.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-09-30|title=Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-6-2005_pg1_4|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190536/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-6-2005_pg1_4|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> Many ] sources believe that officials within Pakistan's military and the ISI sympathise with and aid ], saying that the "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the ] affiliate ]".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-07-18|title=Terrorism Havens: Pakistan - Council on Foreign Relations|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|access-date=2021-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718135741/http://www.cfr.org/publication/9514/|archive-date=18 July 2006}}</ref> | |||
General ] confessed to assisting the ] Bosnian Muslims, supporting ] in ] despite a UN arms embargo, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in ].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHKsBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148|title=Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, the Army, and America's War on Terror|last=Abbas|first=Hassan|publisher=]|year=2015|isbn=978-1-317-46328-3|pages=148|quote=Javed Nasir confesses that despite the U.N. ban on supplying arms to the besieged Bosnians, he successfully airlifted sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles which turned the tide in favor of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege. Under his leadership, the ISI also got involved in supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang Province, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia.}}</ref> The ] of Pakistan is headed by the ]. The overarching intelligence coordination body was given assent by the ] in November 2020. It held its inaugural session on 24 June 2021, marking the date the committee became functional.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Syed |first=Baqir Sajjad |date=2020-11-24 |title=PM okays creation of liaison body for spy agencies |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1592030 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Daily |first=The Pakistan |date=2020-11-24 |title=DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to head National Intelligence Coordination Committee |url=https://thepakistandaily.com/dg-isi-lt-gen-faiz-hameed-to-head-national-intelligence-coordination-committee/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Pakistan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
==Organization== | |||
{{Further|Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence}} | |||
A director-general, who is traditionally a serving lieutenant general in the Pakistan Army,{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} heads the ISI.<ref name="govt notify">{{Cite web|last=Raza|first=Syed Irfan|date=2021-10-14|title=Crisis lingers as govt yet to notify new ISI chief|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1651915|access-date=2021-10-14|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> Three deputy director generals, who are serving two-star military officers, report directly to the director general with each deputy heading three wings respectively:<ref>Shuja Nawaz. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210150827/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shuja-nawaz/focusing-the-spy-glass-on_b_131153.html |date=10 December 2008}} ''The Huffington Post'', 2 October 2008</ref> | |||
* Internal Wing – responsible for domestic intelligence, domestic ], counter-espionage, and counter-terrorism. | |||
* External Wing – responsible for external intelligence, external counter-intelligence, and espionage. | |||
* Foreign Relations Wing – responsible for diplomatic intelligence and foreign relations intelligence. | |||
Military officers of the three branches of the ] and paramilitary forces such as ], ], ], ], ] and ] as well as civilian officers from the ] (FIA), ] (FBR), ], ], ] and ] make up ISI's general staff. They are recruited on deputations for three to four years and enhance the ISI's professional competence. According to some experts, the ISI is the largest intelligence agency in the world in terms of total staff. While the total number has never been made public, experts estimate around 10,000 officers and staff, which does not include informants or assets.<ref name="FAS">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ |title=Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence |publisher=] |author=Pike, John |date=25 July 2002 |access-date=13 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515131913/http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ |archive-date=15 May 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> | |||
The wings are further divided into various directorates, which are sub-divided into departments, each directorate is usually headed by a ], ], or ]. | |||
{{U.S. government agencies|agency=Inter-Services Intelligence|image=Coat of arms of Pakistan.svg|size=125|title=FBI seal|motto='']''|}}{| | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
| Director : ] | |||
|+ | |||
!Directorates | |||
!Name | |||
!Rank | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General, Security and Administration (DG S&A) | |||
!Department : ] | |||
|Amir Naveed Warraich | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General Analysis (DG A) | |||
! style="text-align:left;" | Established : 1948 | |||
|Shahid Amir Afsar | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General H (DG H) | |||
! style="text-align:left;" | Major departments: | |||
|Syed Imdad Hussain Shah | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General Counter-Terrorism (DG CT) | |||
| style="text-align:left;" | | |||
|Akif Iqbal | |||
* Joint Intelligence X (JIX) | |||
|Major general | |||
* Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) | |||
* Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau (JCIB) | |||
* Joint Intelligence North (JIN) | |||
* Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous (JIM) | |||
* Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) | |||
* Joint Intelligence Technical (JIT) | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General Personnel (DG P) | |||
! style="text-align:left;" | Notable Directors: | |||
|Muhammad Kashif Azad | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Director-General, K (DG K) | |||
| style="text-align:left;" | | |||
|Muhammad Hassan Khattak | |||
* ] | |||
|Major general | |||
* ] | |||
|- | |||
* ] | |||
|Director-General X (DG X) | |||
* ] | |||
|Muhammad Shahbaz Tabassum | |||
* ] | |||
|Major general | |||
* ] | |||
|- | |||
* ] | |||
|Director-General, F (DG F) | |||
|Faheem Amer | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |||
|Director-General, Technical (DG T) | |||
|Adeel Haider Minhas | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |||
|Director-General, Counter Intelligence (DG CI) | |||
|Faisal Naseer | |||
|Major general | |||
|- | |||
|Director-General, Media (DG M) | |||
|Muhammad Saleem | |||
|Rear admiral | |||
|} | |} | ||
The '''Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence''' (also '''Inter-Services Intelligence''' or '''ISI''') is the largest intelligence service in ]. It is one of the three main branches of Pakistan's ]. | |||
===Departments=== | |||
The Inter-Services Intelligence was created as an independent unit in 1948 in order to strengthen the performance of ] during the ]. It was formerly in the ] (IB), which handled intelligence sharing between the different branches of the military as well as external intelligence gathering. Its headquarters was initially located in ] but later it was moved to ]. The current director of the organization is Lieutenant General ], who took over in September 2008. | |||
* ]: Its roles are similar to the ] of the CIA and a handful of officers are trained by that division. The division has been active since the 1960s.<ref name="Lancer Publishers & Distributors">{{cite book|last=Raman|first=B.|title=Intelligence : past, present & future|year=2002|publisher=Lancer Publishers & Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=8170622220|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTf1vRYx_U4C&pg=PA46|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=10 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410043516/https://books.google.com/books?id=mTf1vRYx_U4C&pg=PA46|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* Joint Intelligence X: Coordinates the other departments in the ISI.<ref name="FAS" /> Intelligence and information gathered from the other departments are sent to JIX which prepares and processes the information and from there prepares reports which are presented. | |||
* Joint Intelligence Bureau: Responsible for gathering anti-state intelligence and fake drugs, fake currency, and TTP.<ref name="FAS" /> | |||
* Joint Counterintelligence Bureau: Focused on foreign intelligence agencies. | |||
* Joint Intelligence North: Exclusively responsible for the ] region and ].<ref name="FAS" /> | |||
* Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous: Responsible for espionage, including offensive intelligence operations, in other countries.<ref name="FAS" /> | |||
* Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau: Operates intelligence collections along the India-Pakistan border.<ref name="FAS" /> The JSIB is the ], ], and ] directorate that is charged with diverting attacks from foreign non-communications ]s emanating from sources other than nuclear detonations or radioactive sources.<ref name="FAS" /> | |||
* Joint Intelligence Technical: Deals with development of science and technology to advance Pakistani intelligence gathering. The directorate is charged with taking steps against ] attacks in Pakistan.<ref name="FAS" /> Without any exception, officers from this division are reported to be engineer officers and military scientists who deal with the military ] and technology.<ref name="FAS" /> There are also separate explosives and ] and ] sections.<ref name="FAS" /> | |||
* SS Directorate: Comprises officers from the Special Services Group. It monitors the activities of terrorist groups that operate against Pakistan. It is comparable to the FBI and the ] (NCS), and is responsible for special operations against terrorists. | |||
* Political Internal Division: Monitors the financial funding of the ] political science sphere against ] political science circles. This department was involved in providing funds to anti-left wing forces during the general elections of ], ], ], ], and ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320170353/http://tribune.com.pk/story/351366/the-political-role-of-the-isi/ |date=20 March 2012 }}. Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved on 24 August 2012.</ref> The department has been inactive since March 2012 with the new director general taking operational charge of the ISI.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403171108/http://www.awamipolitics.com/isi-political-cell-temporary-suspended-4236.html |date=3 April 2012 }}. Awamipolitics.com (1 April 2012). Retrieved on 2012-08-24.</ref> | |||
===Director generals=== | |||
==History== | |||
{{Main|Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence}} | |||
After independence in 1947, two new intelligence agencies were created in Pakistan: the ] (IB) and the ] (MI). However, the weak performance of the MI in sharing intelligence between the Army, Navy and Air Force during the ] led to the creation of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 1948.<ref name="ISI History 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/pakistan/isi.htm|title=Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence |accessdate=2008-05-12|publisher=]}}</ref> The ISI was structured to be manned by officers from the three main military services, and to specialize in the collection, analysis and assessment of external intelligence, either military or non-military.<ref name="ISI History 1"/> The ISI was the ] of Australian-born British Army officer, Major General R. Cawthome, then Deputy Chief of Staff in the Pakistan Army.<ref name="ISI History 1"/><ref name = "FAS">{{cite web | url = http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ | title = Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence | publisher = ] | author = ] | date = 2002-07-25 | accessdate= 2008-12-13 }}</ref> Initially, the ISI had no role in the collection of internal intelligence, with the exception of the ] and ].<ref name="ISI History 1"/> | |||
The Director General of the ISI is among the most powerful posts in Pakistan.<ref name="govt notify" /> For example, according to Mohammad Sohail, shares at the ] went down in October 2021 over concerns regarding the appointment of the ISI chief. The benchmark KSE-100 index fell 1.51%.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pakistan stocks end in red on Wednesday amid ISI chief appointment controversy|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/pakistan-stocks-end-in-red-on-wednesday-amid-isi-chief-appointment-controversy|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Free Press Journal|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Reporter|first=The Newspaper's Staff|date=2021-10-14|title=Stocks tumble 661 points on political noise|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1651902|access-date=2021-10-14|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Editorial|date=15 October 2021|title=Confusion galore|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/900372-confusion-galore|access-date=2021-10-15|website=www.thenews.com.pk|language=en|quote=Editorial quote:"With the markets constantly in flux over the past few days, the people of the country wonder whether their fates are in fact linked to the signing of a summary or notification"}}</ref> According to retired air marshal Shahzad Chaudhry, three to four names are provided by the ], and the prime minister selects the director general from that list,<ref name="spymaster">{{Cite web|last=Chaudhry|first=Urooj Imran {{!}} Sana|date=2021-10-13|title=What is the process of appointing Pakistan's spymaster?|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1651789|access-date=2021-10-14|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> and the appointed serves for two to three years.<ref name="spymaster" /> Before 2021, the appointment process of the Director-General followed no formal protocol other than verbal discussion between the Prime Minister and the head of the army.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Abbasi|first=Ansar|date=15 October 2021|title=An undiscussed angle of mess surrounding DG ISI's appointment|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/900481-an-undiscussed-angle-of-mess-surrounding-dg-isi-s-appointment|access-date=2021-10-15|website=www.thenews.com.pk|language=en}}</ref> | |||
] was the first head of the ISI. His successor, ] is said to have supported ]'s rise to power.<ref name="Pakistan ISI">{{Cite journal|last=Shaffer|first=Ryan|date=2017-02-02|title=Faith, unity, discipline: the Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, by Hein G. Kiessling, Noida, India, Harper Collins, 2016, ISBN 9351777960|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16161262.2017.1286447|journal=Journal of Intelligence History|volume=16|issue=2|pages=|doi=10.1080/16161262.2017.1286447|s2cid=164905274|issn=1616-1262}}</ref> After his retirement, he helped President ].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-23|title=Obituary: Maj-Gen Syed Shahid Hamid|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-majgen-syed-shahid-hamid-1497723.html|access-date=2021-10-17|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> | |||
In the late 1950s, when ] became the President of Pakistan, he expanded the role of ISI in safeguarding Pakistan's interests, monitoring opposition politicians, and sustaining military rule in Pakistan.<ref name = "FAS"/> The ISI was reorganised in 1966 after intelligence failures in the ]<ref name="ISI History 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LANCER/idr00006.htm|title=ISI|accessdate=2008-05-12|first=Bharat |last=rakshak}}</ref>, and expanded in 1969. Khan entrusted the ISI with the responsibility for the collection of internal political intelligence in East Pakistan. Later on, during the Baloch nationalist revolt in ] in the mid 1970s, the ISI was tasked with performing a similar intelligence gathering operation.<ref name="ISI History 2"/> | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
!colspan=2|Director General | |||
!Start of term | |||
!End of term | |||
|- | |||
|1 | |||
|] | |||
''']''' | |||
|January 1948 | |||
|June 1948 | |||
|- | |||
|2 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<ref name="HK">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y_cgDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|title=Faith, Unity, Discipline|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-84904-863-7 }}</ref><br>] | |||
|14 July 1948 | |||
|22 August 1950 | |||
|- | |||
|3 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<ref name="HK"/> | |||
|23 August 1950 | |||
|May 1951 | |||
|- | |||
|4 | |||
|] | |||
'''Muhammad Afzal Malik'''<ref name="HK"/> | |||
|May 1951 | |||
|April 1953 | |||
|- | |||
|5 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<ref name="HK"/> | |||
|April 1953 | |||
|August 1955 | |||
|- | |||
|6 | |||
|]<ref name="HK"/> | |||
'''Sher Bahadur''' | |||
|August 1955 | |||
|September 1957 | |||
|- | |||
|7 | |||
|]<ref name="HK"/> | |||
'''Muhammad Hayat''' | |||
|September 1957 | |||
|October 1959 | |||
|- | |||
|8 | |||
|]{{ref|a}} | |||
''']'''<ref name="HK"/> | |||
|October 1959 | |||
|May 1966 | |||
|- | |||
|9 | |||
|] | |||
'''Muhammed Akbar Khan'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brownpundits.com/2016/10/25/general-mohammed-akbar-khan/|title=General Mohammed Akbar Khan (and some others)|date=25 October 2016 }}</ref> | |||
|May 1966 | |||
|September 1971 | |||
|- | |||
|10 | |||
|]{{ref|b}} | |||
''']''' | |||
|September 1971<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_S-TDAAAQBAJ&dq=dg+isi+akbar&pg=PA85|title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate|page=85|year=2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-19609-9 }}</ref> | |||
|16 September 1978<ref name="Zaheer18">{{Cite web|title=Lt. Gen Zaheer is 18th DG ISI since 1959|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/41129-lt.-gen-zaheer-is-18th-dg-isi-since-1959|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.geo.tv|language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
|11 | |||
|] | |||
''']''' | |||
|17 September 1978 | |||
|20 June 1979 | |||
|- | |||
|12 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|NI(M)|HI(M)}} | |||
|21 June 1979 | |||
|29 March 1987 | |||
|- | |||
|13 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|SBt}} | |||
|29 March 1987 | |||
|29 May 1989 | |||
|- | |||
|14 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|TBt}} | |||
|30 May 1989 | |||
|August 1990 | |||
|- | |||
|15 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)}} | |||
|August 1990 | |||
|13 March 1992 | |||
|- | |||
|16 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|SBt}} | |||
|14 March 1992 | |||
|13 May 1993 | |||
|- | |||
|17 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br />{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|SBt}} | |||
|14 May 1993 | |||
|October 1995 | |||
|- | |||
|18 | |||
|] | |||
''']''' | |||
|October 1995 | |||
|October 1998<ref name="Zaheer18" /> | |||
|- | |||
|19 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br />{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)}} | |||
|October 1998 | |||
|12 October 1999 | |||
|- | |||
|20 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)}} | |||
|20 October 1999 | |||
|7 October 2001 | |||
|- | |||
|21 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)}} | |||
|7 October 2001 | |||
|5 October 2004 | |||
|- | |||
|22 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|SI(M)|TI(M)}} | |||
|5 October 2004 | |||
|8 October 2007 | |||
|- | |||
|23 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|TBt}} | |||
|9 October 2007 | |||
|29 September 2008 | |||
|- | |||
|24 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|Tbt}} | |||
|1 October 2008 | |||
|18 March 2012 | |||
|- | |||
|25 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|Tbt}} | |||
|19 March 2012 | |||
|7 November 2014 | |||
|- | |||
|26 | |||
|] | |||
''']''' | |||
|7 November 2014 | |||
|11 December 2016 | |||
|- | |||
|27 | |||
|] | |||
''']''' | |||
|11 December 2016 | |||
|25 October 2018 | |||
|- | |||
|28 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|Tbt}} | |||
|25 October 2018 | |||
|16 June 2019 | |||
|- | |||
|29 | |||
|] | |||
''']'''<br>{{Post-nominals|country=PAK|HI(M)|Tbt}} | |||
|17 June 2019 | |||
|19 November 2021 | |||
|- | |||
|30 | |||
| ] | |||
''']''' | |||
| 20 November 2021 | |||
| 29 September 2024 | |||
|- | |||
|31 | |||
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" |] | |||
''']''' | |||
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" |30 September 2024 | |||
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" | Incumbent | |||
|} | |||
=== Insubordination controversies === | |||
The ISI lost its importance during the regime of ], who was very critical of its role during the 1970 general elections, which triggered off the events leading to the ] and emergence of ].<ref name="ISI History 2"/> | |||
The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history and has always been unwilling to see its influence being compromised by any civilian leaders.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-26|title=Pakistan's PM approves appointment of new spy chief|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pakistan-islamabad-imran-khan-karachi-peshawar-b1945713.html|access-date=2021-10-27|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> In the 1990s, Prime Minister ] appointed retired army officer ] as director-general, but army leaders refused to cooperate with Kallu because he had refused to engage in martial-law duties under the previous dictator. In October 1998, ] was chosen as director general. Though Butt was not the preferred choice of Prime Minister ], he grew close with him, and ] General ] took over important ISI files. During a military coup a year later, Musharraf arrested Butt, who had been promoted to Chief of Army Staff by Sharif.<ref>{{Cite news|date=16 Oct 2021|title=Is this the first time there has been a conflict between the government and military?|language=Urdu|work=]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Ul5VJkpIc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/q3Ul5VJkpIc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Pakistan ISI" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Noor|first=Arifa|date=2021-10-19|title=Past, present, forever|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1652917|access-date=2021-10-19|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> | |||
On 6 October 2016, the daily newspaper ] published a report about a government meeting allegedly arranged by Sharif. The article detailed a presentation by Foreign Secretary ] about international pressure to crack down on Pakistan's extremist segments such as Masood Azhar, the Jaish-i-Mohmmad, Hafiz Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Haqqani network. According to Ghazi Salahuddin of ''],'' controversy ensued after the October meeting and the ''Dawn'' report, which lingered until May 2016.<ref name="isolation">{{Cite web|last=Almeida|first=Cyril|date=2016-10-06|title=Exclusive: Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1288350|access-date=2021-10-17|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref><ref name="dangerous">{{Cite web|last=Salahuddin|first=Ghazi|date=17 October 2021|title=Living dangerously – again|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/900977-living-dangerously-again|access-date=2021-10-17|website=www.thenews.com.pk|language=en}}</ref> During the October 2016 meeting, Punjab chief minister ] allegedly revealed that, whenever action had been taken against certain extremist groups by civilian authorities, the security agency had worked secretly to free the arrested parties.<ref name="isolation" /><ref name="dangerous" /> According to Salahuddin Ghazi, information minister ] lost his portfolio over the ''Dawn'' news leak, and a government notification was released about the civilian government's decision after the meeting. On 29 April 2017, the director general released a tweet that said: "Notification on Dawn Leak is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected." Ghazi stated that a meeting was eventually held between the prime minister and the chief of army staff, and a press conference was held to announce the decision to withdraw the tweet.<ref name="dangerous" /> | |||
After General ] seized power in July 1977, the ISI was expanded by making it responsible for the collection of intelligence about the ] based ] party and various political parties such as the ] (PPP).<ref name="ISI History 2"/> | |||
====2021 disagreement over appointment of ISI Chief==== | |||
The ] of the 1980s saw the enhancement of the covert action capabilities of the ISI by the U.S. ] (CIA). A special Afghan Section was created under the command of colonel ] to oversee the coordination of the war. A number of officers from the ISI's Covert Action Division received training in the US and many covert action experts of the CIA were attached to the ISI to guide it in its operations against the Soviet troops by using the Afghan ]. | |||
Pakistan's mainstream media reported on the October 2021 constitutional rift between civil and armed wings over the appointment of the director general post only after ministers spoke on the matter.<ref name="Govt stalemate" /><ref name="ISI Chief">{{Cite web|date=2021-10-12|title=Aye-Yes-Aye: Imran Khan, Gen Bajwa Bicker Over New ISI Chief as Charges of 'Favouritism, Meddling' Fly|url=https://www.news18.com/news/world/aye-yes-aye-imran-khan-gen-bajwa-bicker-over-new-isi-chief-as-charges-of-favouritism-meddling-fly-4315784.html|access-date=2021-10-13|website=News18|language=en}}</ref> On 6 October 2021, the Pakistan military's media affairs wing announced the replacement of ] with ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chaudhry|first=Dawn com {{!}} Fahad|date=2021-10-06|title=In military shuffle, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum replaces Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as top spymaster|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1650461|access-date=2021-10-13|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> After two days, it became apparent on social media that the federal government of Pakistan had yet to issue any formal notification for the appointment of the new director general.<ref name="Govt stalemate">{{Cite web|last=Shehzad|first=Rizwan|date=2021-10-13|title=Govt confirms 'stalemate' in DG ISI's appointment|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/2324595/govt-confirms-stalemate-in-dg-isis-appointment|access-date=2021-10-13|website=The Express Tribune|language=en}}</ref> Rumors became more substantiated when Hameed attended the National Security Committee meeting instead of the expected new director general.<ref name="Govt stalemate" /><ref name="ISI Chief" /> | |||
On 13 October 2021, Information Minister ] informed media that the process of appointing a new director general was in progress, and that the selection is Prime Minister ]'s prerogative. He also noted that the army chief and the prime minister agreed on following correct procedures of appointment according to the Constitution. | |||
After much criticism, the Pakistani Government disbanded the ISI 'Political Wing' in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/23/top3.htm |title=ISI closes its political wing |accessdate=2008-05-05}} | |||
</ref> | |||
], the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, later said in a talk show that PM Imran Khan wanted Hameed to continue as DG ISI for some more months after taking into consideration Hameed's expertise on the ]. Dogar further stated that during the cabinet meeting, the prime minister stressed that if the army is a respected institution then the PM Office is also a respected one.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Raza|first=Dawn com {{!}} Syed Irfan|date=2021-10-13|title=Consultation between PM, COAS over DG ISI completed, new appointment process underway: Fawad|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1651775|access-date=2021-10-13|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Raza|first=Syed Irfan|date=2021-10-13|title=PM wants current ISI chief to continue for some time: PTI|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1651629|access-date=2021-10-13|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref><ref name="govt notify" /> | |||
==Objectives== | |||
The objectives of ISI are:<ref></ref> | |||
# Safeguard Pakistani interests and national security inside and outside the country. | |||
# Monitor the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on Pakistan's ] and in the formulation of its ] and to collect foreign and domestic intelligence in such cases. | |||
# Co-ordination of intelligence functions of the three military services. | |||
# Keep vigilant surveillance over its cadre, foreigners, the media, politically active segments of Pakistani society, diplomats of other countries accredited to Pakistan and Pakistani diplomats serving outside the country. | |||
== |
===Headquarters=== | ||
The ISI is headquartered in Pakistan's capital, ]. The complex consists of various low-rise buildings separated by lawns and fountains. The entrance to the complex is next to a ]. Declan Walsh from '']'' said that the entrance is "suitably discreet: no sign, just a plainclothes officer packing a pistol who directs visitors through a chicane of barriers, soldiers, and sniffer dogs".<ref name="Walshreally">{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=12 May 2011 |title=Whose side is Pakistan's ISI really on? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/12/isi-bin-laden-death-pakistan-alqaida |website=] |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410210128/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/12/isi-bin-laden-death-pakistan-alqaida }}</ref> Walsh said that the complex "resembles a well-funded private university" and that the buildings are "neatly tended," the lawns are "smooth," and the fountains are "tinkling." He described the central building, which houses the director general's office on the top floor, as "a modern structure with a round, echoing lobby".<ref name="Walshreally" /> | |||
ISI's headquarters are located in Islamabad and currently the head of the ISI is called the Director General who has to be a serving Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army.{{Fact|date=December 2008}} Under the Director General, three Deputy Director Generals report directly to him and are in charge in three separate fields of the ISI which are Internal wing - dealing with ] and political issues inside Pakistan, External wing - handling external issues, and Analysis and Foreign Relations wing.<ref>Shuja Nawaz. ''The Huffington Post'', 2 October, 2008</ref> | |||
==Recruitment and training== | |||
The general staff of the ISI mainly come from police, paramilitary forces and some specialized units from the Pakistan Army such as the SSG commandos.{{Fact|date=December 2008}} While the total number has never been made public, experts estimate about 10,000 officers and staff members, which does not include informants and assets.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
Both civilians and members of the armed forces can join the ISI. For civilians, recruitment is advertised and handled by both the ] (FPSC); they are considered employees of the Ministry of Defence. The FPSC conducts examinations that test the candidate's knowledge of current affairs, English, and various analytical abilities. Based on the results, the FPSC shortlists the candidates and sends the list to the ISI who conduct the initial background checks. Selected candidates are then invited for an interview which is conducted by a joint committee comprising both ISI and FPSC officials, and are then sent to the Defence Services Intelligence Academy (DSIA) for six months of training. The candidates are transferred to different sections for open source information where they serve for five years. After five years of basic service, officers are entrusted with sensitive jobs and considered part of the core team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to Join isi Pakistan |url=https://soldiers.pk/join-inter-services-intelligence-isi-pakistan/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=soldiers.pk |date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=5 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305224014/https://soldiers.pk/join-inter-services-intelligence-isi-pakistan/ }}</ref> | |||
==Major operations== | |||
===Departments=== | |||
* '''Joint Intelligence X''', coordinates all the other departments in the ISI.<ref name = "FAS"/> Intelligence and information gathered from the other departments are sent to JIX which prepares and processes the information and from which prepares reports which are presented. | |||
===By country=== | |||
* '''Joint Intelligence Bureau''', responsible for gathering political intelligence.<ref name = "FAS"/> It has three subsections, one divided entirely to operations against India.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
====Afghanistan==== | |||
* '''Joint Counterintelligence Bureau''', responsible for surveillance of Pakistani diplomats abroad, along with intelligence operations in the Middle East, South Asia, China, Afghanistan and the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
{{Main|Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Afghanistan}} | |||
* 1982–1997: ISI is believed to have had access to ] in the past.<ref name="Telegraph1">{{cite news |last=West |first=Julian |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1341405/Pakistans-godfathers-of-the-Taliban-hold-the-key-to-hunt-for-bin-Laden.html |title=Pakistan's 'godfathers of the Taliban' hold the key to hunt for bin Laden |work=] |date=23 September 2001 |access-date=9 April 2011 |location=London |archive-date=5 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605054508/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1341405/Pakistans-godfathers-of-the-Taliban-hold-the-key-to-hunt-for-bin-Laden.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Coll, S. (2004). ''Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001''. Penguin.</ref> B. Raman, former ] (R&AW) officer, claims that the Central Intelligence Agency through the ISI promoted the smuggling of heroin into Afghanistan to turn Soviet troops into heroin addicts and thus greatly reduce their fighting potential.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acsa.net/isi/index.html|title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)|access-date=5 May 2006|first=B|last=Raman|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913194009/http://www.acsa.net/isi/index.html|archive-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> | |||
* 1986: Worrying that among the large influx of ] who had come into Pakistan because of the Soviet–Afghan War were members of ] (Afghan Intelligence), the ISI convinced Mansoor Ahmed, who was the ] of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, to turn his back on the Soviet-backed Afghan government. He and his family were secretly escorted out of their residence and given safe passage on a London-bound British Airways flight in exchange for classified information in regard to Afghan agents in Pakistan. The Soviet and Afghan diplomats did not find his family.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence">{{cite book |author=Brigadier Syed A. I. Tirmazi |title=Profiles of Intelligence |publisher=Combined Printers |year=1985 |id=Library of Congress Catalogue No. 95-930455}}</ref> | |||
* 1990: According to ], the United States ] to Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan had tried to bring ] to power in Afghanistan against the opposition of all other mujahideen commanders and factions as early as 1990.<ref name="Tomsen">{{cite book|last=Tomsen|first=Peter|title=The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Dz9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA405|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-58648-763-8|pages=405–408|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=27 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427103700/https://books.google.com/books?id=_Dz9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA405|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 1990, the ISI had devised a plan for Hekmatyar to conduct a mass bombardment of the Afghan capital ], then still under communist rule, with possible Pakistani troop reinforcements.<ref name="Tomsen" /> This unilateral ISI-Hekmatyar plan was carried out, though the thirty most-important mujahideen commanders had agreed to hold a conference inclusive of all Afghan groups to decide on a common future strategy.<ref name="Tomsen" /> The United States finally put pressure on Pakistan to stop the 1990 plan, which was subsequently called off until 1992.<ref name="Tomsen" /> | |||
* 1994: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf admitted to supporting the Taliban until 9/11.<ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm |title=Pakistan's support of the taliban |publisher=] |year=2000 |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621035209/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Pakistani Afghanistan expert ], "between 1994 and 1999, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Pakistanis trained and fought in Afghanistan" on the side of the Taliban.<ref name="Maley">{{cite book|last=Maley|first=William|title=The Afghanistan wars|year=2009|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-230-21313-5|page=288}}</ref> | |||
* 2008: Militants attacked the Indian Consulate General in Jalalabad in 2007. According to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, individuals arrested by the Afghan government stated that the ISI was behind the attack and had given them ₹120,000 for the operation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=PTI |date=12 May 2011 |title=ISI behind plot to target Indian Consulate |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/plot-to-attack-jalalabad-consulate-worrisome-says-pm/20110512.htm |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=reddif.com |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313090203/https://www.rediff.com/news/report/plot-to-attack-jalalabad-consulate-worrisome-says-pm/20110512.htm }}</ref> | |||
* 2001 onwards: American officials believe members of the Pakistani intelligence service are alerting militants to imminent American missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taintor |first=David |date=7 October 2014 |title=Panetta explains why US didn't alert Pakistan of bin Laden raid |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/panetta-explains-why-us-didnt-alert-pakistan-bin-laden-raid-msna430086 |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=] |archive-date=17 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317004657/https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/panetta-explains-why-us-didnt-alert-pakistan-bin-laden-raid-msna430086 }}</ref> In October 2009, Davood Moradian, a senior policy adviser to foreign minister ], said the British and American governments were fully aware of the ISI's role but lacked the courage to confront Islamabad. He claimed that the Afghan government had given British and American intelligence agents evidence that proved ISI involvement in bombings.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Dean |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/6338349/Pakistans-ISI-still-supporting-the-Taliban-say-Afghans.html |title=Pakistan's ISI still supporting the Taliban, say Afghans – Pakistan's intelligence agency is directing Taliban attacks on Western targets in Afghanistan, Davood Moradian, a senior government official has claimed |work=Telegraph |date=15 October 2009 |access-date=9 April 2011 |location=London |archive-date=20 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220190048/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/6338349/Pakistans-ISI-still-supporting-the-Taliban-say-Afghans.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 2010: A new report by the ] (LSE) claimed to provide the most concrete evidence that the ISI is providing funding, training, and sanctuary to the ] on a scale much larger than previously thought. The report's author, Matt Waldman, spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan and concluded that Pakistan's relationship with the insurgents ran far deeper than previously realised. Some of those interviewed suggested that the organisation even attended meetings of the Taliban's supreme council, the ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10302946.stm |title=Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency 'supports' Taliban |publisher=] |date=13 June 2010 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=17 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617073244/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10302946.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512184639/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7149089.ece |date=12 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Burch |first=Jonathon |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65C06620100613 |title=Report slams Pakistan for meddling in Afghanistan |publisher=] |date=13 June 2010 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=18 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618042319/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65C06620100613 |url-status=live }}</ref> A spokesman for the Pakistani military dismissed the report, describing it as "malicious".<ref>{{cite news |author=the CNN Wire Staff |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/13/afghanistan.taliban.isi/ |title=New report on Pakistan connections with Taliban dismissed by military |publisher=] |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121084842/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/13/afghanistan.taliban.isi/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Pakistan_Denies_Supporting_Taliban/2070224.html |title=Pakistan Denies Supporting Taliban |publisher=Rferl.org |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=22 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122125943/http://www.rferl.org/content/Pakistan_Denies_Supporting_Taliban/2070224.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>]</ref> General ], commander of the US Central Command, refused to endorse this report in a US congressional hearing and suggested that any contacts between ISI and extremists are for legitimate intelligence purposes; in his words, "you have to have contact with bad guys to get intelligence on bad guys".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Iqbal |first=Anwar |date=19 June 2010 |title=Ties with bad guys help get bad guys: Gen Petraeus |url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/ties-with-bad-guys-help-get-bad-guys-us-960 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620234943/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/ties-with-bad-guys-help-get-bad-guys-us-960 |archive-date=20 June 2010 |access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref> | |||
* 2021: The ] was seen as a major strategic victory for ISI that has long been seeking a pro-Pakistan government in ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-25 |title=A Win for Pakistan? |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal_win-pakistan/6209957.html |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref> The ISI has always aspired to see Islamists as the rulers of Afghanistan. The rise of ] in Kabul was considered as an achievement for ISI's ] in Afghanistan. | |||
* 2021: It was reported that ISI mediated talks between different factions of ] on the power sharing. ISI ensured ] holds lion's share in the Taliban's ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-05 |title=Who is ISI chief Faiz Hameed whose visit to Kabul has sparked controversy? |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-is-isi-chief-faiz-hameed-whose-visit-to-kabul-has-sparked-controversy-101630843177941.html |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> | |||
====Bosnia==== | |||
* '''Joint Intelligence North''', exclusively responsible for the Jammu and Kashmir region.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
{{Main|Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Bosnia}} | |||
* 1993: The ISI was involved in supplying arms to the Bosnian mujahideen in Bosnia-Herzegovina to prevent a total genocide of Muslims at the hands of the Serbs.<ref name="Hussain2008">{{citation |last=Hussain |first=Zahid |title=Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cD36RbtSKNkC&pg=PA27 |date=2008 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-231-14225-0 |page=27 |access-date=19 October 2016 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410034836/https://books.google.com/books?id=cD36RbtSKNkC&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====India==== | |||
* '''Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous''', responsible for espionage, including offensive intelligence operations, in other countries.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
{{Main|Inter-Services Intelligence activities in India}} | |||
Indian intelligence agencies have claimed they have proof of ISI involvement with the ]. ISI is also reportedly engaged in supporting Khalistani Separatism in India.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-20 |title=Amritpal Singh trained by ISI in Georgia, linked to SFJ: Intel |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/amritpal-singh-trained-by-isi-in-georgia-linked-to-sfjintel-101679318471953.html |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> A classified report accessed by the Indian newspaper '']'' said "the ISI in particular wants Naxals to cause large-scale damage to infrastructure projects and industrial units operating in the interior parts of the country where ISI's own terror network is non-existent".<ref name=Sharma>{{cite news|last=Sharma|first=Rajnish|title=Intel reveals ISI-Naxal link|url=http://www.asianage.com/india/intel-reveals-isi-naxal-link-583 |newspaper=]|date=1 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406125840/http://www.asianage.com/india/intel-reveals-isi-naxal-link-583|archive-date=6 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> | |||
* '''Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau''', operates intelligence collections along the India-Pakistan border.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
* 1965: The ] in Kashmir provoked a major crisis in intelligence. When the war began, there was a complete collapse of operations across all intelligence agencies. They were unable to locate an Indian armored division because of their preoccupation with political affairs. ] set up a committee headed by General ] to examine the agencies' workings.<ref name="acsa2000.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.acsa2000.net/isi/index.html |title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) |work=acsa2000.net |access-date=26 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415112807/http://www.acsa2000.net/isi/index.html |archive-date=15 April 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> | |||
* 1969–1974: According to Indian spymaster ], the Central Intelligence Agency and ISI worked with the ] administration to assist the ] movement in ].<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group">{{cite web|url=http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html|title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) |first=B. |last=Raman |publisher=South Asia Analysis Group |date=1 August 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412012106/http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 12 April 2006}}</ref> | |||
* 1980: An Indian agent captured by the PAF Field Intelligence Unit in Karachi said the leader of the spy ring was being headed by the food and beverages manager at the Intercontinental Hotel in Karachi and a number of serving Air Force officers and ratings were on his payroll. The ISI decided to question the manager to see who he was in contact with, but the former president of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, intervened and wanted the manager and anyone else involved in the case arrested immediately. The manager was proven completely innocent afterwards.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
* 1983: Ilam Din, also known as Ilmo, was an Indian spy working in Pakistan who had eluded capture multiple times. On 23 March at 3:00 a.m., Ilmo and two other Indian spies were apprehended by Pakistani Rangers as they illegally crossed into Pakistan from India. Their mission was to spy and report back on the new military equipment that Pakistan would be showing in their annual 23 March ]. After being thoroughly interrogated, ISI forced Ilmo to send false information to his ] handlers in India. This process continued and many more Indian spies in Pakistan, such as Roop Lal, were discovered.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
* 1984: ISI uncovered a secret deal in which Indian prime minister ] granted naval base facilities to the USSR in Vizag and the ], and the alleged attachment of ] advisers to then-Lieutenant General Sunderji who was the commander of ] in the Golden Temple in ] in June 1984.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group" /> | |||
* 1984: ISI failed to perform a proper background check on the British company which supplied the Pakistan Army with its Arctic-weather gear. When Pakistan attempted to secure the top of the ] in 1984, it placed a large order for Arctic-weather gear with the same company that also supplied the ] with its gear. The Indians were alerted to the large Pakistani purchase and deduced that this large purchase could be used to equip troops to capture the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1079528,00.html |magazine=] |title=War at the Top of the World |page=2 |date=4 May 2005 |author=McGirk, Tim |author2=Adiga, Aravind |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220233035/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1079528%2C00.html |archive-date=20 December 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> India mounted] and captured the entire glacier. | |||
* 1988: The ISI implemented ], a three-part action plan for covertly supporting Kashmiri militants in their fight against Indian authorities in ], initiated by President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 <ref>Juan Cole, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323103257/http://www.salon.com/2008/12/12/pakistan_7/ |date=23 March 2017 }}, Salon, 12 December 2008, Retrieved 16 October 2016</ref> After the success of Operation Tupac, support of Kashmiri militants became Pakistan's state policy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4416771.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Why Pakistan is 'boosting Kashmir militants' |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=9 May 2010 |archive-date=28 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228011213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4416771.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> ISI is widely believed to train and support militancy in the Kashmir region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ |title=Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228011213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4416771.stm |date=28 February 2017 }}, ], 3 March 2010</ref> | |||
* 2014: In February (disclosed in March 2015), the then-Indian chief of army staff General Bikram Singh issued orders to deploy troops along the borders with Pakistan in the Rajasthan and Jammu-Kashmir regions, but the ISI got the information in a few hours and in reaction the Pakistan Army deployed its troops near the Indian borders, which alarmed Indian authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Indian troop deployment plan leaked to Pakistan last year' |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/03/05/indian-troop-deployment-plan-leaked-to-pakistan-last-year/amp/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716000523/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/03/05/indian-troop-deployment-plan-leaked-to-pakistan-last-year/amp/ |archive-date=16 July 2020 |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=pakistantoday.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: Indian Army movement plans leaked to ISI last year |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/isi-mole-indian-army-movement-pakistan-bikram-singh-antony-242731-2015-03-02 |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=] |date=2 March 2015 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614125124/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/isi-mole-indian-army-movement-pakistan-bikram-singh-antony-242731-2015-03-02 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 March 2015 |title=Indian troop deployment plan leaked to ISI within hours |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/amp/11201-indian-troop-deployment-plan-leaked-to-isi-within-hours |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=thenews.com |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801204635/https://www.thenews.com.pk/amp/11201-indian-troop-deployment-plan-leaked-to-isi-within-hours }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Revealed: Indian Army plans were leaked to Pakistan's ISI in 2014 |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/amp/news/india/revealed-indian-army-plans-were-leaked-to-pakistan-isi-in-2014-48131.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=indiatvnews.com |date=3 March 2015 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801214928/https://www.indiatvnews.com/amp/news/india/revealed-indian-army-plans-were-leaked-to-pakistan-isi-in-2014-48131.html }}</ref> | |||
: 2016: Home Minister Balochistan, Pakistan, ] stated on 26 March that a serving Indian Naval officer, ], was arrested in Balochistan by the ISI.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1072455/terror-purge-forces-nab-indian-spy-in-balochistan/|title='RAW officer' arrested in Balochistan|work=]|date=24 March 2016|access-date=14 April 2016|archive-date=28 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328025130/http://tribune.com.pk/story/1072455/terror-purge-forces-nab-indian-spy-in-balochistan/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====Pakistan==== | |||
* '''Joint Intelligence Technical'''<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
The ISI was accused of being involved in the ], in which high-ranking ISI and Army officers were allegedly given large sums of money by Yunus Habib, owner of the Mehran Bank, to deposit the ISI's foreign exchange reserves in his bank.<ref name="Ghazali">{{cite web |url=http://www.ghazali.net/book1/Chapter11a/body_page_4.html |title=ISLAMIC PAKISTAN: ILLUSIONS & REALITY |website=ghazali.net |access-date=5 May 2006 |first=Abdus Sattar |last=Ghazali |archive-date=15 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715170345/http://www.ghazali.net/book1/Chapter11a/body_page_4.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 1980: The ISI became aware of a plot to assassinate Zia-ul-Haq and launch a coup to depose replace the government with an Islamic one. The attempted assassination and coup were planned for 23 March 1980, during the annual 23 March Pakistan Day Parade. The masterminds behind the coup were high-ranking military and intelligence officers, and were led by Major General Tajammal Hussain Malik; his son Captain Naveed; and his nephew Major Riaz, a former military intelligence officer. The ISI decided against arresting the men outright because they did not know how deep the conspiracy went, and kept them under strict surveillance. As the date of the annual parade approached, the ISI was satisfied that it had identified the major players in the conspiracy and arrested the men along with some high-ranking military officers.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
* 1985: The ISI's Internal Political Division was accused by various members of the Pakistan People's Party of assassinating ], one of ]'s two brothers, by poisoning in the ] in the middle of 1985 as an attempt to intimidate her into not returning to Pakistan to direct the movement against Zia-ul-Haq's military government, but no proof has been found implicating the ISI.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group" /> | |||
* 1987: The ISI failed to prevent the ]/] terror campaign in Pakistan in 1987, which led to the deaths of about 324 Pakistanis in separate incidents.<ref>Kaplan, ''Soldiers of God'', p.12</ref> | |||
* 1990: The 1990 elections were widely believed to have been rigged by the ISI in favor of the ] (IJI) party, a ] of nine mainly ] parties by the ISI under ], to ensure the defeat of Bhutto's ] (PPP) in the polls.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ |title=Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence |website=fas.org |access-date=5 May 2006 |first=John |last=Pike |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611053322/https://fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/ |archive-date=11 June 2014 |df=dmy}}</ref> | |||
* 2000s: The ISI engaged with Pakistan armed forces in the ] against ], and is reported to have lost 78 ISI personnel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Iftikhar A |date=11 May 2011 |title=ISI sought formal accord on ties with CIA |url=http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/15/isi-sought-formal-accord-on-ties-with-cia-pasha.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625223508/http://dawn.com/2011/05/15/isi-sought-formal-accord-on-ties-with-cia-pasha/ |archive-date=25 June 2012 |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=dawncom}}</ref> | |||
* 2006: ] brought a civil claim against MI5 for suggesting the ISI arrested him in 2006 and colluded in torturing him by submitting questions which were put to him under torture in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/27/mi5-colluded-in-pakistans-torture-of-british-terrorist-court-hears|author=Sabbagh, Dan|title=MI5 Colluded in Pakistan's torture of British terrorist, court hears|date=27 October 2020|work=]|access-date=28 October 2020|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709124719/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/27/mi5-colluded-in-pakistans-torture-of-british-terrorist-court-hears?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* 2011: The ISI arrested five Pakistanis who worked as CIA informants who passed information that led to the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmitt |first=Eric |date=14 June 2011 |title=Pakistan Arrests C.I.A. Informants in Bin Laden Raid |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/world/asia/15policy.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2021 |website=New York Times |archive-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623172548/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/world/asia/15policy.html }}</ref> However, among them in particular, the US was trying to seek the release of ],<ref>{{cite web|title=US congress pushes for Dr Shakil Afridi's release|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/844538/us-congress-pushes-for-dr-shakil-afridis-release/|website=Express Tribune|date=26 February 2015 |access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=14 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414162051/https://tribune.com.pk/story/844538/us-congress-pushes-for-dr-shakil-afridis-release/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Iqbal|first1=Anwar|title=US to use further cuts to get Dr Afridi out|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1255716|website=Dawn.com|date=2 May 2016|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=14 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414082425/https://www.dawn.com/news/1255716|url-status=live}}</ref> who ran a fake vaccination campaign that provided critical intelligence for the raid on the bin Laden compound.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 October 2011 |title=Pakistan accuses 'CIA-doctor' of treason |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/10/201110723854479984.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007145145/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/10/201110723854479984.html |archive-date=7 October 2011 |website=]}}</ref> However, the Pakistani government and military establishment refused to release Afridi, who has since been serving a 33-year prison sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Marszal|first1=Andrew|title=Doctor who helped CIA track bin Laden still languishes in Pakistan jail|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/02/doctor-who-helped-cia-track-bin-laden-still-languishes-in-pakist/|website=The Telegraph|date=2 May 2016|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=14 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414081115/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/02/doctor-who-helped-cia-track-bin-laden-still-languishes-in-pakist/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====Libya==== | |||
In addition, there are also separate explosives and a chemical warfare sections.<ref name = "FAS"/> | |||
* 1978: The ISI spied on the residence of Colonel Hussain Imam Mabruk, who was a ] to the ]n embassy in Islamabad, after he made some inflammatory statements about the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq. Mabruk was seen talking with two Pakistani men who entered and left the compound suspiciously. The ISI monitored the two men, who were later identified as Pakistani exiles who hated the current military regime and were Bhutto loyalists. They had received terrorist training in Libya and were ready to embark on a terrorist campaign in Pakistan to force the Army to step down from power. All members of the conspiracy were apprehended before any damage could be done.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
* 1981: A Libyan security company called Al Murtaza Associates sent recruiters to Pakistan to entice former soldiers and servicemen to take high-paying security jobs in Libya. In reality, Libya was recruiting mercenaries to fight against ] and Egypt, as it had border disputes with both nations. ISI became aware of the plot and the scheme was stopped.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> (See also ], ], ].) | |||
=== |
====Iran==== | ||
* 2000s: ISI has been accused by ] for supporting ] in ] province by aiding groups like ] which carried out score of terror attacks against Iranian forces.2010s. | |||
# ] Riaz Hussain.<ref>Altaf Gauhar. ''The Nation'', August 17, 1997</ref> 1959 - 1966 | |||
* 2000s: ISI has been under repeated accusation of aiding ] which is fighting for the separation of Sistan-Baluchistan from Iran. | |||
# Maj Gen (then ]) Mohammad Akbar Khan.<ref> ''British High Commission'', 5 May, 1966</ref> 1966 - 1971 | |||
* 2010s. ISI was locked into ] with ] of Iran to gain the maximum influence in the Southern Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-07-02 |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Pakistan's ISI behind Helmand clashes |language=en-US |work=Khaama Press |url=https://www.khaama.com/irans-revolutionary-guard-and-pakistans-isi-behind-helmand-clashes-6332/ |access-date=2023-12-13}}</ref> | |||
# Lt Gen (then ]) Ghulam Jilani Khan. 1971 - 1978 | |||
* 2016: ], a gangster of the Lyari Gang War who holds Iranian nationality,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arfeen|first1=Syed|title=Deeper and darker: A Pakistani gangster's Iran connection|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/137935-Deeper-and-darker-A-Pakistani-gangsters-Iran-connection|website=]|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413235735/https://www.geo.tv/latest/137935-Deeper-and-darker-A-Pakistani-gangsters-Iran-connection|url-status=live}}</ref> was arrested in an intelligence-based operation by ]. In his handwritten confession, Baloch stated that officials of Iran's ] offered him an all-expenses-paid residence in ] in exchange for providing sensitive information about the Pakistan Army's operations in Karachi. He says that the offer came through a third-party while he was staying in Iran's port city of ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ayub|first1=Imran|title=Uzair admitted to espionage a year ago, reveal documents|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1326668/uzair-admitted-to-espionage-a-year-ago-reveal-documents|website=Dawn.com|date=13 April 2017|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413051351/https://www.dawn.com/news/1326668/uzair-admitted-to-espionage-a-year-ago-reveal-documents|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
# Lt Gen ]. 1978 - 1980 | |||
* 2021: Iranian ] also known as VAJA adopting ISI model to curb the internal dissent which Iranian regime is facing. It was believed that VAJA wants to promote same discipline as ISI to better fight with threats that Iran is facing from the internal chaos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan's ISI Has Become the Model for Iranian Intelligence |url=https://www.aei.org/op-eds/pakistans-isi-has-become-the-model-for-iranian-intelligence/ |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
# Lt Gen ]. 1980 - March 1987 | |||
'''Qatar''' | |||
# Lt Gen ]. March 1987 - May 1989 | |||
# Lt Gen (retd) ]. May 1989 - August 1990 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. August 1990 - March 1992 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. March 1992 - May 1993 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. May 1993 - 1995 | |||
# Lt Gen (then Maj Gen) ]. 1995 - October 1998 | |||
# Lt Gen ] . October 1998 - October 1999 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. October 1999 - October 2001 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. October 2001 - October 2004 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. October 2004 - October 2007 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. October 2007 - September 2008 | |||
# Lt Gen ]. September 2008 - Present | |||
* 2023: ] arrested eight former ] officials working for ] who were spying on Qatar's stealth submarine programme at the behest of ]. It was alleged by Indian media that Qatar was able to unearth spy network with the information provided by the ISI. | |||
== Operations == | |||
===Functions=== | |||
{{Campaign | |||
|name=] |battles=]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] {{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] {{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]– ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] | |||
}} | |||
'''Collection of information:''' ISI obtains information critical to Indian strategic interests. Both overt and covert means are adopted. | |||
'''Iraq''' | |||
'''Classification of information:''' Data is sifted through, classified as appropriate, and filed with the assistance of the computer network in ISI's headquarters in Islamabad. | |||
* 2017: After ]'s ], Iraqi envoy to Pakistan, Ali Yasin Muhammad Karim, held a press conference where he expressed his government's appreciation for Pakistan's help during the fight against the terrorist organization. He praised the intelligence-sharing of the ISI and expressed interest in continuing the intelligence cooperation between the two countries.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sajjad|first1=Baqir|title=Pakistan helped Iraq in defeating IS, says Iraqi envoy|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1345432/pakistan-helped-iraq-in-defeating-is-says-iraqi-envoy|website=Dawn|date=15 July 2017|access-date=15 July 2017|archive-date=12 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212070604/https://www.dawn.com/news/1345432/pakistan-helped-iraq-in-defeating-is-says-iraqi-envoy|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====France==== | |||
'''Aggressive intelligence:''' The primary mission of ISI includes aggressive intelligence which comprises ], ], ], ]. '''Counterintelligence:''' ISI has a dedicated section which spies against enemy's intelligence collection. | |||
* 1979: The ISI discovered a surveillance mission at the ] nuclear complex on 26 June 1979 by the French Ambassador to Pakistan Le Gourrierec and First Secretary Jean Forlot. Both were arrested and their cameras and other sensitive equipment were confiscated. Documents intercepted later showed that the two were recruited by the CIA.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
====Soviet Union and post-Soviet states==== | |||
===Methods=== | |||
* 1980: The ISI had placed a mole in the Soviet Union's embassy in Islamabad. They reported that the Third Secretary in the Soviet Embassy was after information regarding the ] and was getting it from a middle-level employee, Ejaz, in the ] (NATCO). The ISI contacted Ejaz, who confessed that a few months earlier a Soviet diplomat approached him and threatened his family unless he divulged sensitive information about the highway such as the road's alignment, bridge locations, and the number of Chinese personnel working on the highway. Instead of confronting the Soviet diplomat, the ISI gave him false information until the Soviet diplomat was satisfied that Ejaz had no further information and dropped him as a source.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
{{Campaign | |||
* 1991–1993: Major General Sultan Habib, who was an operative of the ISI's Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous department, successfully procured nuclear material while being posted as the ] in the Pakistani Embassy in Moscow from 1991 to 1993 and concurrently obtained other materials from Central Asian Republics, Poland and the former Czechoslovakia. After Moscow, Habib coordinated shipping missiles from North Korea and the training of Pakistani experts in missile production, both of which strengthened Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and their missile delivery systems.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html|title=Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)|access-date=5 May 2006|first=B.|last=Raman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412012106/http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 12 April 2006}}</ref> | |||
|name=] | |||
|battles=]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] {{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ]{{ndash}} ] | |||
}} | |||
''']s:''' Diplomatic missions provide an ideal cover and ISI centers in a target country are generally located on the embassy premises. | |||
====United Kingdom==== | |||
''']:''' ISI operatives find good covers in multinational organizations. ]s and cultural programmes are also popular screens to shield ISI activities. | |||
{{Main|Inter-Services Intelligence activities in the United Kingdom}} | |||
====United States==== | |||
'''Media:''' International media centers can easily absorb ISI operatives and provide freedom of movement. | |||
{{Main|Inter-Services Intelligence activities in the United States}} | |||
* 1980s: The ISI intercepted two American private-sector weapons dealers during the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s. One American diplomat lived in the F-7/4 sector of Islamabad and was spotted by an ISI agent in a seedy part of ], drawing attention because of his automobile's diplomatic plates. He was bugged and subsequently trailed and found to be in contact with tribal groups and supplying them with weapons for their fight against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. The second American weapons dealer was Eugene Clegg, a teacher in the American International School. One American International School employee and undercover agent, Naeem, was arrested while waiting to clear a shipment from Islamabad customs. All of them were put out of business.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence" /> | |||
* 2000s: The ISI was suspicious about the CIA's attempted penetration of Pakistan nuclear assets and intelligence gathering in the Pakistani lawless tribal areas. Based on these suspicions, it was speculated that the ISI pursued a counter-intelligence program against CIA operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-cia-isi-spywar-qs-01 |title=Pakistan | CIA and ISI locked in aggressive spy battles |work=Dawn |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=21 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021054541/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-cia-isi-spywar-qs-01 |url-status=live }}</ref> Former director general ] is also reported to have said, the "real aim of U.S. strategy is to denuclearize Pakistan".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013004136.html |title=New estimates put Pakistan's nuclear arsenal at more than 100 |author=Karen DeYoung |newspaper=] |date=31 January 2011 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=4 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504022248/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013004136.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 2011: In the aftermath of a shooting involving American CIA agent ], the ISI became more alert and suspicious about the CIA's spy network in Pakistan, which had disrupted ISI-CIA cooperation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/06/isi-redefining-terms-of-engagement-with-cia.html |title=ISI redefining terms of engagement with CIA |author=Baqir Sajjad Syed |publisher=Dawn.com |date=6 March 2011 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=10 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310164710/http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/06/isi-redefining-terms-of-engagement-with-cia.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At least 30 suspected covert American operatives have suspended their activities in Pakistan and 12 have reportedly left the country.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kharal |first=Asad |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/124965/intelligence-assets-after-davis-arrest-us-operatives-leaving-pakistan/ |title=After Davis' arrest, US operatives leaving Pakistan |work=The Express Tribune |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=17 March 2011 |archive-date=23 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423104314/http://tribune.com.pk/story/124965/intelligence-assets-after-davis-arrest-us-operatives-leaving-pakistan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
: A Chinese woman believed to be an ISI agent, who headed the Chinese unit of a US manufacturer, was charged with illegally exporting high-performance coatings for Pakistan's nuclear power plants. Xun Wang, a former managing director of PPG Paints Trading in Shanghai, a Chinese subsidiary of United States-based PPG Industries, Inc., was indicted on a charge of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and related offences. Wang was accused of conspiring to export and re-export specially designed, high-performance epoxy coatings to the ] in Pakistan via a third-party distributor in the People's Republic of China.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713015916/http://tribune.com.pk/story/205930/us-charges-chinese-woman-on-pakistan-exports/ |date=13 July 2011 }}. (10 July 2011). Retrieved on 2012-08-24.</ref> Alleged ISI operative Mohammed Tasleem, an attaché in the New York consulate, was discovered to be issuing threats against Pakistanis living in the United States to prevent them from speaking openly about Pakistan's government in 2010 by the FBI. US officials and scholars say the ISI has a systematic campaign to threaten those who speak critically of the Pakistani military.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan Spies on Its Diaspora, Spreading Fear |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24isi.html |work=] |author1=Mark Mazzetti, Eric Schmitt |author2=Charlie Savage |name-list-style=amp |date=23 July 2011 |access-date=23 July 2011 |archive-date=1 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201213649/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24isi.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====Sri Lanka==== | |||
'''Collaboration with other agencies:''' ISI maintains active collaboration with other secret services in various countries. Its contacts with Saudi Arabian Intelligence Services, Chinese Intelligence, the American ] and British ] have been well-known. | |||
* 2000s: ISI played pivotal role in crushing ] in Sri Lanka which was being supported by India's ] to carve out separate Tamil country for the Tamils of Sri Lanka. ISI, in response to the RAW's machinations, started to equip, train and provide logistical support to the ] in their war against Tamil rebels. ISI supplied multi-barrel rocket launcher systems and other weaponry, which halted the offensive. ISI, by supplying high-tech military equipment such as 22 Al-Khalid main battle tanks, 250,000 rounds of mortar ammunition and 150,000 hand grenades, and sending army officers to Sri Lanka, played a key role in the ultimate defeat of Tamil Tigers in May 2009. The victory of Sri Lankan Armed Forces on Tamil Tigers ultimately strengthened ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-22 |title=Sri Lanka's Faustian bargain with Pakistan: Exit LTTE, enter ISI |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/story/sri-lanka-faustian-bargain-with-pakistan-exit-ltte-enter-isi-191398-2019-04-22 |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=Business Today |language=en}}</ref> | |||
'''Third Country Technique:''' ISI has been active in obtaining information and operating through third countries like ], ], the ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | |||
* 2011: ISI started to train ] and Sri Lankan ] on intelligence gathering. | |||
==Al Qaeda and Taliban militants captured== | |||
===Operations History=== | |||
* ]: One of the planners of the ] and the ]. Pakistani intelligence, and the Department of State – ] (DSS) Special Agents, captured Yousef in Islamabad, Pakistan. On 7 February 1995, they raided room number 16 in the Su-Casa Guest House in Islamabad and captured Yousef before he could move to ].<ref name="sacredcows">Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. ''The Age of Sacred Terror'', 2002</ref> | |||
====Afghanistan==== | |||
* ]: A Libyan paramilitary trainer for ], attempted to flee Afghanistan in November 2001 following the collapse of the Taliban, precipitating the ]. He was captured by Pakistani forces.<ref name="risen">Risen, James. ''State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration'', 2006</ref> | |||
*'''(1982)''' ISI, CIA and ] carried out a covert transfer of Soviet-made weapons and Lebanese weapons captured by the Israelis during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982 and their subsequent transfer to Pakistan and then into ]. All knowledge of this weapon transfer was kept secret and was only made public recently. | |||
* ]: A British-born terrorist of Pakistani descent who was arrested by Pakistani police on 12 February 2002 in ] for his involvement with the Pearl kidnapping. Pearl had been kidnapped, had his throat slit, and then beheaded. He was named the chief suspect,<ref name="transcripts.cnn.com">''CNN Transcript'' {{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/12/bn.02.html|title=Suspected Mastermind of Pearl Killing Arrested|access-date=29 June 2006|publisher=]|date=7 February 2001|archive-date=22 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522051836/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/12/bn.02.html|url-status=live}} 12 February 2002.</ref> but claimed he had surrendered to the ISI a week earlier.<ref name="cpj">Wright, Abi. Committee to Protect Journalists, May 2006. {{cite web|title=Heading into Danger|url=http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/DA_spring_06/pearl/pearl_DA.html|access-date=29 June 2006|archive-date=29 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629103102/http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2006/DA_spring_06/pearl/pearl_DA.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
] who was the architect of the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union.]] | |||
* ]: An Al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for conceiving multiple terrorist plots, including sending ] to blow up the Los Angeles airport in 2000.<ref name="BinLadenReport">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/august6.memo/index.html |title=''Transcript: Bin Laden determined to Strike in US'' CNN.com, Saturday April 10, 2004 |publisher=CNN |date=10 April 2004 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=26 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126134923/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/august6.memo/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was captured on 28 March 2002, by ISI, CIA, and FBI agents after they raided several safe houses in ], Pakistan.<ref name="GuantanamoFiles">Andy Worthington ''The Guantanamo Files'', Pluto Press, 2007</ref><ref name="TimMcGirk">{{cite news |author=Tim McGirk |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,227584,00.html |title=Anatomy of a Raid |magazine=Time |date=8 April 2002 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=21 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521015220/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,227584,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="JohnBurns">{{cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00EFDA123CF937A25757C0A9649C8B63 |title=John Burns, ''A NATION CHALLENGED: THE FUGITIVES, In Pakistan's Interior, A Troubling Victory in Hunt for Al Qaeda'' New York Times, April 14, 2002 |location=New York City; Pakistan; Faisalabad (Pakistan); Washington (Dc) |work=] |date=14 April 2002 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709124735/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/world/nation-challenged-fugitives-pakistan-s-interior-troubling-victory-hunt-for-al.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="AntiTerrorRaid">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020403/zub03/anti-terror-raids-yield-bonanza-for-us-intelligence |title=Anti-terror raids yield bonanza for U.S. intelligence |work=] |date=2 April 2002 |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=12 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112164741/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020403&slug=zub03 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* '''(1982-1997)''' ISI played a central role in the U.S.-backed guerrilla war to oust the Soviet Army from Afghanistan in the 1980s. That Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-backed effort flooded Pakistan with weapons and with Afghan, Pakistani and Arab "mujahideen", who were motivated to fight as a united force protecting fellow Muslims in Soviet occupied Afghanistan. The CIA relied on the ISI to train fighters, distribute arms, and channel money. The ISI trained about 83,000 Afghan mujahideen between 1983 and 1997, and dispatched them to Afghanistan. B. Raman of the ], an Indian think-tank, claims that the ] through the ISI promoted the smuggling of heroin into Afghanistan in order to turn the Soviet troops into heroin addicts and thus greatly reducing their fighting potential.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group ">{{cite web|url=http://www.acsa.net/isi/index.html|title=PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE (ISI)|accessdate=2006-05-05|first=B|last=Raman}}</ref> | |||
* ]: An Al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ], and the 2002 ] in ].<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2257456.stm |title=Ramzi bin al-Shibh: al-Qaeda suspect |publisher=BBC |date=14 September 2002 |access-date=18 February 2010 |archive-date=16 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416103532/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2257456.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> On 11 September 2002, the ISI captured Ramzi bin al-Shibh during a raid in ].<ref>{{cite news |first=Syed Saleem |last=Shahzad |title=A chilling inheritance of terror |newspaper=Asia Times |date=30 October 2002 |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ30Df01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021030191230/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ30Df01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=30 October 2002}}</ref> | |||
* '''(1986)''' Worrying that among the large influx of ] that come into Pakistan due to the Soviet-Afghan war were members of ] (Afghan Intelligence), the ISI successfully convinced Mansoor Ahmed who was the Charge-de-Affairs of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad to turn his back on the Soviet backed Afghan government. He and his family were secretly escorted out of their residence and were given safe passage on a London bound British Airways flight in exchange for classified information in regard to Afghan agents in Pakistan. The Soviet and Afghan diplomats tried their best to find the family but were unsuccessful.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence">{{cite book |author=Brigadier Syed A. I. Tirmazi |title=Profiles of Intelligence |publisher=Combined Printers |year=1985 |id=Library of Congress Catalogue No. 95-930455}}</ref> | |||
* ]: The principal architect of the 9/11 attacks and other significant terrorist plots over the last twenty years, including the ], the Bojinka plot, an aborted 2002 attack on the ] in Los Angeles, the ], the failed bombing of ], the ], and the murder of ]. On 1 March 2003, the ISI captured him in a joint raid with the CIA's ] paramilitary operatives and ] Special Agents in ], Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html |title=Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation |date=22 June 2008 |last=Shane |first=Scott |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=9 February 2017 |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402075657/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/washington/22ksm.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*'''(1994)''' The Taliban regime that the ISI supported after 1994 to suppress warlord fighting and in hopes of bringing stability to Afghanistan proved ] in its Islamic interpretations and too fond of the ] based on its soil. Despite receiving large sums of aid from Pakistan, the Taliban leader ] is reported to have insulted a visiting delegation of Saudi Prince Sultan and an ISI general asking that the Taliban turn over bin Laden to Saudi Arabia.<ref>Rashid, Ahmed, ''Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia''. Yale University Press, (2000), p.138, 231 </ref> Following the 9/11 attack on the United States by Al-Qaeda, Pakistan felt it necessary to cooperate with the US and the ] | |||
* Abu Faraj Farj al-Liby: Mastermind of two failed attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life in May 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE58E27T20090915 |publisher=Reuters |title=Factbox: Major al Qaeda militants killed or captured |date=15 September 2009 |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308131757/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE58E27T20090915 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*'''1996:'''After the taliban came in power, in cooperation with ISI the taliban executed the democratic elected president of Afghanistan, Dr. Najibullah. | |||
* ]: Senior aid to ], who was captured by the ISI in August 2009. | |||
*'''2001 onwards''' American officials believe members of the Pakistani intelligence service are alerting militants to imminent American missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. There is also evidence that the ISI helped plan the July 7th bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. This conclusion is based on ] between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants. | |||
* ]: The Taliban's deputy commander who was captured by Pakistani intelligence forces in or near Karachi, Pakistan, in early 2010.<ref name="BBC20100216">{{cite news |title=Taliban commander Mullah Baradar 'seized in Pakistan' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8517375.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=16 February 2010 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218044645/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8517375.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
== |
==Reception== | ||
Critics of the ISI say that it has become a ] and not accountable enough. Some analysts say that it is because intelligence agencies around the world remain secretive. Critics argue the institution should be more accountable to the president or the prime minister.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1750265.stm |title=Profile: Pakistan's military intelligence agency |access-date=5 May 2006 |first=David |last=Chazan |publisher=BBC News |date=9 January 2002 |archive-date=17 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051117003518/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1750265.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Pakistani government disbanded the ISI's political wing in 2008 after its discovery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/23/top3.htm |title=ISI closes its political wing |newspaper=Dawn |date=23 November 2008 |access-date=16 October 2016 |archive-date=1 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101032354/http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/23/top3.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*'''(1950s)''' The ISI's Covert Action Division was used in assisting the insurgents in ]'s North-East.<ref name="acsa2000.net">http://www.acsa2000.net/isi/index.html</ref> | |||
===U.S. government=== | |||
*'''(1960s)''' In the late 1960s assists the ] Home Rule Movement of London-based ], which was subsequently transformed into the ] Movement, headed by ] in which many other members of the ] in Europe, ] and ] joined and then demanded the separate country of Khalistan.<ref name="acsa2000.net"/> | |||
During the ], the ISI and the CIA worked together to send ] over the ].<ref>{{usurped|1=}}. Southasiaanalysis.org. Retrieved on 24 August 2012.</ref> The two organisations also worked closely during the Soviet–Afghan War supporting groups such as ]'s ] and ], leader of the ].<ref name="Neamatollah Nojumi">{{cite book |last=Neamatollah Nojumi |year=2002 |title=The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region |edition=1st |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave }}</ref> | |||
Some{{Who|date=March 2023}} report the ISI and CIA stepped up cooperation in the aftermath of the ] to kill and capture senior ] leaders such as Sheikh Younis Al Mauritan and ], the planner of the 9/11 attacks who was residing in Pakistan. Pakistan claims that around 100 top level al-Qaeda leaders/operators were killed or arrested by the ISI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The News International: Latest News Breaking, Pakistan News |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.thenews.com.pk}}</ref> Secretary of State ] said Pakistan is paying a "big price for supporting the U.S. war against terror groups. I think it is important to note that as they have made these adjustments in their own assessment of their national interests, they're paying a big price for it."<ref>http://www.dailymailpost.com/?p=640 {{Dead link|date=May 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> | |||
*'''(1965)''' The ] in Kashmir provoked a major crisis in intelligence. When the war started, there was a complete collapse of the operations of all the intelligence agencies, after the commencement of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, was apparently unable to locate an Indian armored division due to its preoccupation with political affairs. Ayub Khan set up a committee headed by General ] to examine the working of the agencies.<ref name="acsa2000.net"/> | |||
Other senior international officials maintain that senior Al Qaeda leaders such as bin Laden have been hidden by the ISI in major settled areas of Pakistan with the full knowledge of the Pakistani military leadership.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/05/osama-bin-laden-afghan-intelligence-abbottabad-lead|title=Osama Bin Laden death: Afghanistan 'had Abbottabad lead four years ago'|work=The Guardian|first=Jon|last=Boone|date=5 May 2011|location=London|access-date=17 December 2016|archive-date=4 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204121959/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/05/osama-bin-laden-afghan-intelligence-abbottabad-lead|url-status=live}}</ref> A December 2011 analysis report by the ] came to the conclusion that | |||
* '''(1969-1974)''' The U.S. ] and ISI worked in tandem with the ] Administration in assisting the ] movement in ].<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group ">{{cite web|url=http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html|title=PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE (ISI)|accessdate=2006-05-05|first=B|last=Raman}}</ref> | |||
{{blockquote|In spite of denials by the Pakistani military, evidence is emerging that elements within the Pakistani military harbored Osama bin Laden with the knowledge of former army chief General ] and possibly former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General ]. Former Pakistani General ] (a.k.a. General Ziauddin Khawaja) revealed at a conference on Pakistani-U.S. relations in October 2011 that according to his knowledge the then former Director-General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan (2004–2008), Brigadier Ijaz Shah (retd.), had kept Osama bin Laden in an Intelligence Bureau safe house in Abbottabad.<ref name="Jamestown Foundation">{{cite news |last=Jamal |first=Arrif |title=Former Pakistan Army Chief Reveals Intelligence Bureau Harbored Bin Laden in Abbottabad |url=https://jamestown.org/program/former-pakistan-army-chief-reveals-intelligence-bureau-harbored-bin-laden-in-abbottabad/ |journal=Terrorism Monitor |volume=9 |issue=47 |publisher=] |date=22 December 2011 |access-date=21 July 2021 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032659/https://jamestown.org/program/former-pakistan-army-chief-reveals-intelligence-bureau-harbored-bin-laden-in-abbottabad/ |url-status=live}}</ref>}} | |||
* '''(1971)''' The ISI faced its major defeat during the loss of war and formation of independent Bangladesh in 1971, the arrongance of the top leadeship of the ISI was reason for the loss of Pakisthan, although heavy with funds pumped in by the government they showd there ineptidude in dealing with ground situation leading to loss in Bangladesh..<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
Pakistani general ] said bin Laden had been hidden in ] by the ISI "with the full knowledge" of General ]<ref name="Jamestown Foundation" /> but later denied making any such statement, saying his words were altered by the media, he said: "It is the hobby of the Western media to distort the facts for their own purposes."<ref name="Ashraf Javed">{{cite news|title=Ijaz Shah to sue Ziauddin Butt|url=https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Feb-2012/ijaz-shah-to-sue-ziauddin-butt|access-date=14 November 2012|newspaper=The Nation|date=16 February 2012|author=Ashraf Javed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402072120/http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/16-Feb-2012/ijaz-shah-to-sue-ziauddin-butt|archive-date=2 April 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> U.S. military officials have increasingly said they do not notify Pakistani officials before conducting operations against the Afghan Taliban or Al Qaeda, because they fear Pakistani officials may tip them off.<ref name="Kissinger on foxnews">{{cite news|url =http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/transcript/kissinger-039almost-impossible039-pakistan-didn039t-know-bin-laden-was-hiding-region|title =Kissinger: 'Almost Impossible' That Pakistan Didn't Know Bin Laden Was Hiding in the Region|publisher =]|date =5 March 2011|access-date =15 February 2012|archive-date =5 May 2011|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110505234040/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/transcript/kissinger-039almost-impossible039-pakistan-didn039t-know-bin-laden-was-hiding-region|url-status =live}}</ref> | |||
* '''(1980)''' The PAF Field Intelligence Unit at their base in ] in July 1980 captured an Indian agent. He was interrogated and revealed that a large network of Indian spies were functioning in Karachi. The agent claimed that these spies, in addition to espionage, had also assassinated a few armed personnel. He also said the leader of the spy ring was being headed by the food and beverages manager at the Intercontinental Hotel in Karachi and a number of serving Air Force officers and ratings were on his payroll. The ISI decided to survey the manager to see who he was in contact with, but then ] Zia-ul Haq superseded and wanted the manager and anyone else involved in the case arrested immediately. It was later proven that the manager was completely innocent.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
International officials have accused the ISI of continuing to support and even lead the Taliban during the ]. As ], ] stated: | |||
{{blockquote|The fact remains that the Quetta Shura and the Haqqani Network operate from Pakistan with impunity ... Extremist organizations serving as proxies of the government of Pakistan are attacking Afghan troops and civilians as well as US soldiers. ... For example, we believe the Haqqani Network—which has long enjoyed the support and protection of the Pakistani government ... is, in many ways, a strategic arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.<ref name="longwarjournal1">{{cite web |first=Thomas |last=Joscelyn |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/09/admiral_mullen_pakis.php |title=Admiral Mullen: Pakistani ISI sponsoring Haqqani attacks |publisher=The Long War Journal |quote=During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency's role in sponsoring the Haqqani Network—including attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. 'The fact remains that the Quetta Shura and the Haqqani Network operate from Pakistan with impunity,' Mullen said in his written testimony. 'Extremist organizations serving as proxies of the government of Pakistan are attacking Afghan troops and civilians as well as US soldiers.' Mullen continued: 'For example, we believe the Haqqani Network—which has long enjoyed the support and protection of the Pakistani government and is, in many ways, a strategic arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency—is responsible for the September 13th attacks against the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.{{'-}} |date=22 September 2011 |access-date=1 December 2011 |archive-date=26 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426235939/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/09/admiral_mullen_pakis.php |url-status=live }}</ref>}} | |||
* '''(1983)''' Ilam Din also known as Ilmo was an infamous Indian spy working from Pakistan. He had eluded being captured many times but on ] at 3 a.m., Ilmo and two other Indian spies were apprehended by Pakistani Rangers as they were illegally crossing into Pakistan from India. Their mission was to spy and report back on the new military equipment that Pakistan will be showing in their annual ] Pakistan day parade. Ilmo after being thoroughly interrogated was then forced by the ISI to send false information to his ] handlers in India. This process continued and many more Indian spies in Pakistan were flushed out, such as Roop Lal.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
The ] reported that "the president said Mullen's statement 'expressed frustration' over the insurgent safe havens in Pakistan. But Obama said 'the intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is.' Obama added that whether Pakistan's ties with the Haqqani network are active or passive, Pakistan has to deal with it."<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010014904/http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/obama-wont-back-mullens-claim-on-pakistan-137813 |date=10 October 2011 }}. NDTV.com (1 October 2011). Retrieved on 2012-08-24.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-22/US-panetta/50514576/1 |work=] |title=Most Popular E-mail Newsletter |date=22 September 2011 |access-date=1 September 2017 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305093836/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-22/US-panetta/50514576/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*'''(1984)''' ISI uncovered a secret deal in which naval base facilities were granted by Indian Prime Minister ] to the ] in Vizag and the Andaman & Nicobar Island and the alleged attachment of ] advisers to the then Lieutenant General Sunderji who was the commander of ] in the Golden Temple in ] in June 1984.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group "/> | |||
The ] showed that the US authorities unofficially consider the ISI a terrorist organization that was equally as dangerous as Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and many allegations of it supporting terrorist activities have been made.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-for-us-pakistans-ISI-a-terrorist-organisation/20110426.htm|title= Rediff News: For the US, ISI is a terrorist organisation|date= 26 April 2011|access-date= 2 February 2012|archive-date= 4 September 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110904000130/http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-for-us-pakistans-ISI-a-terrorist-organisation/20110426.htm|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=Burke>{{cite news|last=Burke|first=Jason|title=Guantánamo Bay files: Pakistan's ISI spy service listed as terrorist group|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-isi-inter-services-intelligence|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 April 2011|location=London|access-date=17 December 2016|archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224223248/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-isi-inter-services-intelligence|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
*'''(1984)''' ISI failed to perform a proper background check on the ] company which supplied the Pakistan Army with its ]-weather gear. When Pakistan attempted to secure the top of the ] in 1984, it placed a large order for Arctic-weather gear with the same company that also supplied the ] with its gear. Indians were easily alerted to the large Pakistani purchase and deduced that this large purchase could be used to equip troops to capture the ].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501050711/story2.html | publisher = ] | title = War at the Top of the World | page = 2 | date = 2005-05-04 | author = McGirk, Tim | coauthors = Adiga, Aravind }}</ref> | |||
In 2017, General ], ], accused the ISI of having ties to terror groups.<ref>" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423232404/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/general-dunford-pakistan-intelligence-links-terrorists-171004105341470.html |date=23 April 2018 }}". Al-Jazeera. 4 October 2017.</ref> In a Senate hearing, Dunford told members of the U.S. Senate: "It is clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups."<ref>" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423165951/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-pakistan-military/mattis-says-will-try-to-work-with-pakistan-one-more-time-idUKKCN1C8264 |date=23 April 2018 }}". Reuters. 3 October 2017.</ref> | |||
* '''(1985)''' A routine background check on various staff members working for the ]n ] raised suspicions on an Indian woman who worked as a school teacher in an Indian School in Islamabad. Her enthusiastic and too friendly attitude gave her up. She was in reality an agent working for the ] (R&AW). ISI monitored her movements to a hotel in ] where she rendezvoused with a local ] man who worked as an ] for ]. ISI then confronted her and were then able to turn her into a ] spying on the Indian Embassy in Islamabad.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
=== |
===Indian government=== | ||
India has accused the ISI of plotting the ].<ref name="ISI">''Black Friday: the true story of the Bombay bomb blasts'', S. Hussain Zaidi, Penguin Books, 2002, p. 30</ref> According to the ], the ISI had previously shared intelligence information with ] regarding possible terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli sites in India in late 2008.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206092257/http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/wikileaks-pakistan-spy-chief-shared-intelligence-with-israel-post-2611-1609020.html |date=6 December 2010 }}. daily.bhaskar.com (2 December 2010). Retrieved on 2012-08-24.</ref> The ISI is also accused of supporting pro independence militias in ]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/18/pakistan-isi-mumbai-terror-attacks |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Jason |last=Burke |title=Pakistan intelligence services 'aided Mumbai terror attacks' |date=18 October 2010 |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=8 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408023059/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/18/pakistan-isi-mumbai-terror-attacks |url-status=live }}</ref> while Pakistan denies all such claims,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/diplomat-denies-pakistan-role-in-mumbai-attacks-1521700.html |location=London |work=The Independent |date=31 January 2009 |title=Diplomat denies Pakistan role in Mumbai attacks |access-date=1 September 2017 |archive-date=30 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630024154/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/diplomat-denies-pakistan-role-in-mumbai-attacks-1521700.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/01/pakistan-denies-governmen_n_147395.html |work=Huffington Post |first=Zarar |last=Khan |title=Pakistan Denies Government Involvement In Mumbai Attacks |date=1 December 2008 |access-date=16 October 2011 |archive-date=18 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518011455/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/01/pakistan-denies-governmen_n_147395.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-07-fg-pakistan-india7-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Laura |last=King |title=Pakistan denies official involvement in Mumbai attacks |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=16 October 2011 |archive-date=18 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518060232/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/07/world/fg-pakistan-india7 |url-status=live }}</ref> or says it gives them moral support only.<ref name=Martin /> | |||
* '''(1980)''' ISI became aware of a plot to assassinate the President of ], Zia-ul-Haq and then launch a bloody coup to depose the current government and install an extreme Islamic government in its place. The attempted assassination and coup was to occur on ], ] during the annual ] Pakistan day parade. The masterminds behind the coup were high ranking Military and Intelligence officers and were led by Major General Tajammal Hussain Malik, his son, Captain Naveed and his nephew Major Riaz, a former Military Intelligence officer. ISI decided against arresting these men outright because they did not know how deep this conspiracy went and kept these men under strict surveillance. As the date of the annual parade approached, ISI was satisfied that it had identified the major players in this conspiracy and then arrested these men along with quite a few high ranking military officers.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
== |
==Controversies== | ||
The ISI has been accused of using ] and ] to conduct ] against its neighbors.<ref name=Bajoria>{{cite news|last=Bajoria|first=Jayshree|title=The ISI and Terrorism: Behind the Accusations|newspaper=]|date=4 May 2011|author2=Eben Kaplan}}</ref><ref name=Laruelle>{{cite book|last=Laruelle|first=Marlène|title=Mapping Central Asia: Indian Perceptions and Strategies|year=2011 |publisher=]|isbn=978-1-4094-0985-4|author2=Sébastien Peyrouse|page=203}}</ref><ref name=Hussain>{{cite book|last=Hussain|first=Zahid|title=Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle With Militant Islam|year=2008|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-231-14225-0|page=VII}}</ref> According to Grant Holt and David H. Gray, "The agency specializes in utilizing terrorist organizations as proxies for Pakistani foreign policy, covert action abroad, and controlling domestic politics."<ref name=Holt>{{cite journal|last=Holt |first=Grant |author2=David H. Gray|title=A Pakistani Fifth Column? The Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate's Sponsorship of Terrorism|journal=Global Security Studies|date=Winter 2011|volume=2|issue=1|page=56}}</ref> ] says, "There has been increasing proof from counter-terrorism organizations that militants and the Taliban continue to receive assistance from the ISI, as well as the establishment of camps to train terrorists on Pakistani territory."<ref name=Forest>{{cite book |last=Forest|first=James J. F.|author-link=James J.F. Forest|title=Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives|year=2007|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-275-99034-3|page=83}}</ref> All external operations are carried out under the supervision of the ISI's S Wing.<ref name=McGrath>{{cite book|last=McGrath|first=Kevin|title=Confronting Al Qaeda: New Strategies to Combat Terrorism|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-59114-503-5|page=138}}</ref> ] is responsible for conducting operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.<ref name=Camp>{{cite book|last=Camp|first=Dick|title=Boots on the Ground: The Fight to Liberate Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, 2001–2002|year=2011|publisher=Zenith|isbn=978-0-7603-4111-7|page=38}}</ref> The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) provides support with communications to groups in Jammu and Kashmir.<ref name=Camp /> According to ] and ], both former members of the ], the ISI acted as a "kind of terrorist conveyor belt" radicalizing young men in the Madrassas in Pakistan and delivering them to training camps affiliated with or run by Al-Qaeda and from there moving them into Jammu and Kashmir to launch attacks.<ref name=Caldwell>{{cite book|last=Caldwell |first=Dan|title=Seeking Security in an Insecure World|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-4422-0803-2|pages=103–104|edition=2nd|author2=Robert Williams}}</ref> | |||
* '''(1978)''' ISI decided to spy on the residence of Colonel Hussain Imam Mabruk who was a Military Attaché to the Embassy of ] in ] as he had made some inflammatory statements towards the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq. The spying paid off as he was seen talking with two Pakistani gentlemen who entered and left the compound suspiciously. The ISI monitored the two men and were later identified as Pakistani exiles that hated the current military regime and were Bhutto loyalists. They had received terrorist training in Libya and were ready to embark on a terrorist campaign in Pakistan to force the Army to step down from power. All members of the conspiracy were apprehended before any damage could be done.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
* '''(1981)''' In 1981, a Libyan Security company called Al Murtaza Associates sent recruiters to Pakistan to entice former soldiers and servicemen for high paying security jobs in Libya. In reality, Libya was recruiting mercenaries to fight with ] and ] as it had border disputes with both nations. Only later did the ISI become aware of the plot and the whole scheme was stopped, but nearly 2,700 Pakistanis had already left for those jobs.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/>], ], ], ]]. | |||
=== |
===Support for militants=== | ||
Since the 1990s, the ISI began communicating with the jihadists who emerged from the conflict against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and by 2000 most militant groups operating in Kashmir were based in Pakistan or were pro-Pakistan. These groups are used to conduct a ] against India.<ref name=Zahab>{{cite book|last=Zahab|first=Mariam Abou|author-link1=Mariam Abou Zahab|title=The Practice of War: Production, Reproduction and Communication of Armed Violence|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-85745-141-5|edition=Reprint|editor=Aparna Rao |editor2=Michael Bollig |editor3=Monika Bock|page=134}}</ref> According to ] and John Wilson, the ISI's aid to and creation of designated terrorist groups and religious extremist groups is well-documented.<ref name=Cohen>{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Stephen P.|title=The Future of Pakistan |year=2011 |publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=978-0-8157-2180-2|page=130}}</ref><ref name=Wilson1>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=John|title=Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Implications for South Asia Countering the Financing of Terrorism|year=2005|publisher=]|isbn=978-8129709981|page=80}}</ref> The ISI has been accused of having close ties to ], who carried out the attacks in Mumbai in 2008.<ref name=Green>{{cite book|last=Green|first=M. Christian|title=Religion and Human Rights|year=2011 |publisher=]|chapter=Chapter 21|isbn=978-0-19-973345-3}}</ref> The organisation has also given aid to ].<ref name=Sisk>{{cite book|last=Sisk |first=Timothy D.|title=International Mediation in Civil Wars: Bargaining with Bullets|year=2008|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-415-47705-5|page=172}}</ref> Terrorism expert Gus Martin said, "The ISI has a long history of supporting designated terrorist groups and pro-Independence groups operating in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir which fight against Indian interests."<ref name=Martin>{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Gus |title=Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues |year=2009 |publisher=] |edition=Third |isbn=978-1-4129-7059-4 |page=189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ6MeYq_FbkC |access-date=19 October 2016 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410035412/https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ6MeYq_FbkC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Palmer>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Monte|title=At the Heart of Terror: Islam, Jihadists, and America's War on Terrorism|year=2007|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-7425-3603-6|page=196}}</ref> The ISI also helped with the founding of the group ].<ref name=Wilson2>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=John|title=Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Implications for South Asia Countering the Financing of Terrorism |year=2005|publisher=Pearson|isbn=978-8129709981|page=84}}</ref> | |||
{{see also|CIA activities in the Near East, North Africa, South and Southwest Asia#Iran 1980}} | |||
* '''(1979)''' After the failure of ], the U.S. media outlets such as ''Newsweek'' and ''Time'' reported that CIA agents stationed in Tehran had obtained information in regard to the location of the hostages, in-house information from a Pakistani cook who used to work for the U.S. Embassy. ISI successfully gathered evidence, and intercepted communication documents and showed it to the ]ian Chief of ] which cleared the cook. The Iranian chief of intelligence said, "We know, the Big Satan is a big liar."<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
==== |
====Hizbul Mujahideen==== | ||
The group Hizbul Mujahideen was created as the Kashmiri branch of ].<ref name=Juergensmeyer>{{cite book|last=Juergensmeyer|first=Mark|title=Global Rebellion Religious Challenges to the Secular State, from Christian Militias to al Qaeda|year=2008|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-520-25554-8|edition=1st|page=91}}</ref> It was reported that JI founded Hizbul Mujahideen at the request of the ISI to counter the ] who are advocates for the independence of ].<ref name=Hizb-ul-Mujahideen>{{cite web|title=Hizb-ul-Mujahideen|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/hizbul_mujahideen.htm|publisher=Institute For Conflict Management|access-date=28 December 2012|archive-date=17 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817113725/http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/terrorist_outfits/hizbul_mujahideen.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The failure of 1987 elections in Kashmir, and afterwards the arrest of Muhammad Yusuf, a.k.a. ], led to the events that created armed struggle in the valley. | |||
* '''(1979)''' ISI foiled an attempt by the ] Ambassador to Pakistan, Le Gourrierce and his First Secretary, Jean Forlot who were on a surveillance mission to ] nuclear complex on ], ]. Both were intercepted and their cameras and other sensitive equipment were confiscated. Intercepted documents later on showed that the two were recruited by the CIA.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
==== |
====Al-Badr==== | ||
There have been three incarnations of ]. According to Tomsen, the ISI, in conjunction with ], formed the first Al-Badr, who resisted the Indian-trained influx of ] in Bangladesh in the 1970s.<ref name=Tomsen,240>{{cite book|last=Tomsen|first=Peter |title=Wars of Afghanistan|year=2011|publisher=Public Affairs|isbn=978-1-58648-763-8|page=240}}</ref><ref name="Schmid (Editor)">{{cite book|last=Schmid|first=Alex|title=The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-41157-8|page=540}}</ref> <!--The third ] (unfinished??---> | |||
* '''(1980)''' ISI had placed a mole in the ]'s embassy in Islamabad. The mole reported that the Third Secretary in the Soviet Embassy was after information in regard to the Karakurum Highway and was obtaining it from a middle level employee, Mr. Ejaz, of the ]. ISI contacted Mr. Ejaz who then confessed that a few months ago the Soviet diplomat approached him and threatened his family unless he divulged sensitive information in regard to the highway such as alignment of the road, location of bridges, the number of Chinese personnel working on the Highway, etc. The ISI instead of confronting the Soviet diplomat chose to feed him with false information. This continued until the Soviet diplomat was satisfied that Mr. Ejaz had been bled white of all the information and then dropped him as a source.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
====Al-Qaeda and bin Laden==== | |||
<!-- Deleted image removed: ] Laboratories, Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL), ], ] .]] --> | |||
{{Main|Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–1992)|Soviet–Afghan War}} | |||
* '''(1991-1993)''' Major General Sultan Habib who was an operative of the ISI's Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous department successfully procured nuclear material while being posted as the Defense Attaché in the Pakistani Embassy in ] from 1991 to 1993 and concurrently obtaining other materials from Central Asian Republics, ] and the former ]. After Moscow, Major General Habib then coordinated shipping of missiles from ] and the training of Pakistani experts in the missile production. These two acts greatly enhanced Pakistan's Nuclear weapons program and their missile delivery systems.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group ">{{cite web|url=http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html|title=PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE (ISI)|accessdate=2006-05-05|first=B.|last=Raman}}</ref> | |||
The ISI supported Al-Qaeda during the war along with the CIA against the Soviet government, through the Taliban, and it is believed by some that there is still contact between Al-Qaeda and the ISI.<ref name=Aubrey>{{cite book|last=Aubrey|first=Stefan M.|title=The New Dimension of International Terrorism|year=2004|publisher=vdf Hochschulverlag AG|isbn=978-3-7281-2949-9|page=253}}</ref> An assessment by British Intelligence in 2000 into Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan showed the ISI were playing an active role in some of them.<ref name=Atkins>{{cite book|last=Atkins|first=Stephen E|title=The 9/11 Encyclopedia|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-59884-921-9|edition=2nd|page=540}}</ref> In 2002, it was alleged that when the Egyptian investigators tracked down Al-Qaeda member Ahmed Said Khadr in Pakistan, the Egyptian authorities informed Pakistani authorities of his location. However, the Afghan Taliban at night came in a car and took Khadir along with them to Afghanistan. The next day, Pakistani authorities claimed they were unable to capture Khadir.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McGirk |first=Tim |date=29 April 2002 |title=Rogues No More? |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020506-233999,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=9 July 2021 |magazine=] |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227112532/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020506-233999,00.html }}</ref> The leak in 2012 of ] from ] claimed papers captured during all the compounds during ] in Abbottabad on Osama bin Laden's compound showed up to 12 ISI officials knew where he was and that Bin Laden had been in regular contact with the ISI.<ref name=McElroy>{{cite news|last=McElroy|first=Damien|title=Stratfor: Osama bin Laden 'was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9109457/Stratfor-Osama-bin-Laden-was-in-routine-contact-with-Pakistans-spy-agency.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=27 February 2012|location=London|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-date=3 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303165254/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9109457/Stratfor-Osama-bin-Laden-was-in-routine-contact-with-Pakistans-spy-agency.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Despite the ], ] stated that as of 2019 there is no direct evidence showing Pakistani knowledge of bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, even by a rogue or compartmented faction within the government, other than the circumstantial fact of bin Laden's compound being located near (albeit not directly visible from) the ]. Documents captured from the Abbottabad compound generally show that bin Laden was wary of contact with ISI and Pakistani police, especially in light of Pakistan's role in the arrest of ]; it has also been suggested that the $25 million U.S. reward for information leading to bin Laden would have been enticing to Pakistani officers given their reputation for corruption. The compound itself, although unusually tall, was less conspicuous than sometimes envisaged by Americans, given the common local habit of walling off homes for protection against violence or to ensure the privacy of female family members.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Steve Coll|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan|publisher=]|year=2019|isbn=9780143132509|pages=547–554}}</ref> | |||
====United States==== | |||
* '''(1980s)''' ISI successfully intercepted two American private weapons dealers during the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s. One ] diplomat (his name has not been de-classified) who lived in the F-7/4 sector of Islamabad was spotted by an ISI agent in a seedy part of Rawalpindi by his Car's diplomatic plates. He was bugged and trailed and was found to be in contact with various tribal groups supplying them with weapons for their fight with the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Another was Eugene Clegg, a teacher in the American International School who also indulged in weapons trade. One American International School employee and under cover agent Mr. Naeem was arrested while waiting to clear shippment from Islamabad custom. All of them were put out of business.<ref name="Profiles of Intelligence"/> | |||
Al-Qaeda has repeatedly labelled ISI their enemy, and claimed the Pakistani military and intelligence are their main targets in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theweek.in/content/archival/news/world/al-qaeda-indian-subcontinent-pakistan.html|title=Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent threatens to wage war against Pak|date=27 June 2017|work=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102053557/https://www.theweek.in/content/archival/news/world/al-qaeda-indian-subcontinent-pakistan.html|archive-date=2 January 2019|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2019, ] labelled ISI and the Pakistani military a "puppet" of the United States in a video message.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/al-qaeda-releases-maiden-video-on-kashmir-issues-threats-to-army-govt/articleshow/70158497.cms|title=Al Qaeda releases maiden video on Kashmir; issues threats to army, govt|date=10 July 2019|work=]|access-date=10 September 2019|archive-date=17 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117170321/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/al-qaeda-releases-maiden-video-on-kashmir-issues-threats-to-army-govt/articleshow/70158497.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/al-qaeda-releases-its-first-video-on-kashmir/article28363676.ece|title=Al-Qaeda releases its first video on Kashmir|date=10 July 2019|work=]|access-date=10 September 2019|archive-date=11 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711114725/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/al-qaeda-releases-its-first-video-on-kashmir/article28363676.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* '''(2002)''' Some authors allege that ISI supported the 1999 release of ] who was subsequently convicted of the 2002 beheading of '']'' reporter ].<ref name="kasmirpearl">{{cite news | url http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7D81F3EF936A15751C0A9649C8B63 | title = A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SUSPECTS; Death of Reporter Puts Focus On Pakistan Intelligence Unit | publisher = New York Times | date = 2002-02-25 | first = Douglas | last = Jehl | accessdate = 2008-12-07 }}</ref> | |||
====Harkat-ul-Mujahideen==== | |||
==Controversies== | |||
The ] was founded in the 1980s by the ISI to fight against Indian interests.<ref name="O. Riedel">{{cite book|last=O. Riedel|first=Bruce|title=Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of the Global Jihad|year=2011|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=978-0-8157-0557-4|page=Preface}}</ref> | |||
Critics of the ISI say that it has become a state within a state, answerable neither to the leadership of the army, nor to the President or the Prime Minister.<ref name= "BBC News">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1750265.stm |title=Profile: Pakistan's military intelligence agency |accessdate=2006-05-05|first=David|last=Chazan }}</ref> The ISI has been deeply involved in domestic politics of Pakistan since the late 1950s. The 1990 elections for example were widely believed to have been rigged by the ISI in favor of the ] (IJI) party, a ] of nine mainly ] parties by the ISI under ], to ensure the defeat of Bhutto's ] (PPP) in the polls.<ref name= "FAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/|title=Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence |accessdate=2006-05-05|first=John|last=Pike }}</ref> Gul has denied that the vote was rigged. In early 1990s ISI became involved in politics of ], it launched operation against the ] (MQM) seeing its growing terrorist activities in the province of ]. <ref name= "Defence Journal">{{cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/july98/civilmilitary2.htm |title=The Military and the Intelligence Agencies |accessdate=2006-05-05}}</ref> | |||
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: ] whom India blames ] ] Bombay Bombings|1993 Bombay bombings]] --> | |||
ISI's Internal Political Division has been accused by various members of the Pakistan People's Party in assassinating ], one of the two brothers of Benazir Bhutto, through poisoning in the ] in the middle of 1985 in an attempt to intimidate her into not returning to Pakistan for directing the movement against Zia's Military government, but no proof has been found implicating the ISI.<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group "/> | |||
====Jammu and Kashmir==== | |||
The ISI was also involved in a massive corruption scandal the ] dubbed "Mehrangate", in which top ISI and Army brass were given large sums of money by Yunus Habib (the owner of Mehran Bank) to deposit ISI's foreign exchange reserves in Mehran Bank.<ref name="Ghazali">{{cite web|url=http://www.ghazali.net/book1/Chapter11a/body_page_4.html |title=ISLAMIC PAKISTAN: ILLUSIONS & REALITY |accessdate=2006-05-05|first=Abdus Sattar |last=Ghazali }}</ref> This was against government policy, as such banking which involves government institutions can only be done through state-owned financial institutions and not private banks. When the new director of the ISI was appointed and then proceeded to withdraw the money from Mehran Bank and back into state-owned financial institutions, the money had been used up in financing Habib's "extracurricular" activities. On ], ], Habib was arrested and the scandal became public. | |||
in 1984, under the orders of Zia-ul-Haq, the ISI prepared for a rebellion, which was to be set in motion in 1991.<ref name=Haqqani>{{cite book|last=Haqqani|first=Husain|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military|year=2005|publisher=Carnegie|isbn=978-0-87003-214-1|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanbetweenm00haqq/page/273}}</ref> | |||
====Haqqani network==== | |||
India, on basis of data collected on Islamic insurgents in Kashmir, has blamed the ISI for training, arming and giving logistics to the separatists who are fighting the ] in ].<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group ">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/kashmir/Story/0,2763,722049,00.html|title=Dangerous game of state-sponsored terror that threatens nuclear conflict|accessdate=2006-05-05|first=Rory |last=McCarthy}}</ref> ] reports that the Inter-Service Intelligence, is the main supplier of funds and arms to the separatist groups.<ref name="FAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/|title="Directorate for ISI" article on FAS, Intelligence Resource Program}}</ref> The British Government had stated there is a 'clear link' between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and three major terrorist outfits<ref name="ISI">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jun/11war4.htm |title=Information regarding links between ISI and kashmiri separatists}}</ref> '']'' newspaper had uncovered evidence that Kashmiri separatists were openly raising funds and training new recruits and that the ISI's Kashmir cell was instrumental in funding and controlling these outfits.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/kashmir/Story/0,2763,722049,00.html |title=Dangerous game of state-sponsored terror ... }} - ]</ref> India also accused ISI of masterminding the 1993 Mumbai bombings, with backing from Dawood Ibrahim's ].<ref name="South Asia Analysis Group">{{cite web|url=http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper287.html|title=PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE (ISI)|accessdate=2006-05-05|first=B|last=Raman}}</ref> Aside from Kashmir, India accuses the ISI of running training camps near the border of ] in late 1990s where India claims the ISI trains members of various ] groups from the northeastern Indian states. The ISI has denied these accusations. | |||
The ISI allegedly have links to the Haqqani network<ref name=Cordesman>{{cite book|last=Cordesman|first=Anthony H.|title=Winning in Afghanistan: Creating Effective Afghan Security Forces|year=2009|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-89206-566-0|author2=Adam Mausner |author3=David Kasten}}</ref> and contributed to their funding.<ref name=Shanty>{{cite book|last=Shanty|first=Frank|title=The Nexus: International Terrorism and Drug Trafficking from Afghanistan|year=2011|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-313-38521-6|edition=1st|page=191}}</ref> It is widely believed the ] on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 was planned with the help of the ISI.<ref name=Williams>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Brian Glyn|title=Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to America's Longest War|year=2011|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-8122-4403-8|page=144}}</ref> A report in 2008 from the US ] stated that the ISI provides intelligence and funding to help with attacks against the ], the Afghan government, and Indian targets.<ref name=Aid>{{citation |last=Aid |first=Matthew M. |title=Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOKL4kbhgIIC |date=3 January 2012 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-60819-481-0 |page=113 |access-date=19 October 2016 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410041618/https://books.google.com/books?id=dOKL4kbhgIIC |url-status=live }}</ref> On 5 November 2014, Lieutenant-General Joseph Anderson, a senior commander for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that the Haqqani network is now "fractured" like the Taliban in a Pentagon-hosted video briefing from Afghanistan. "They are fractured. They are fractured like the Taliban is. That's based pretty much on Pakistan's operations in North Waziristan this entire summer-fall," he said, acknowledging the effectiveness of Pakistan's ] in North Waziristan. "That has very much disrupted their efforts in Afghanistan and has caused them to be less effective in terms of their ability to pull off an attack in Kabul," Anderson added.<ref>{{cite news|title=Operation Zarb-i-Azb disrupted Haqqani network: US general |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1142664/ |date=6 November 2014 |work=Dawn |access-date=7 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107130307/http://www.dawn.com/news/1142664/ |archive-date=7 November 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy}}</ref> | |||
===Attacks on journalists=== | |||
In January 1993, the United States placed Pakistan on the watch list of such countries which were suspected of ]. This decision was made in part because the current head of the ISI in 1993, Lt. Gen. Nasir, had become a stumbling block in American efforts to buy back hundreds of shoulder-fired, ] ] missiles from the Afghan Mujahideen and was assisting organizations such as ], which had been branded as a terrorist organization by the US. Once Nasir's tenure as ISI chief ended, the US removed Pakistan from the terrorism watch list. | |||
] published a document concerning the investigation of ISI over the murder of ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.refworld.org/country,,AMNESTY,,PAK,,53c661084,0.html|title=Refworld {{!}} Pakistan must investigate Inter-Services Intelligence over attacks against journalists|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|newspaper=Refworld|access-date=2017-01-01|archive-date=26 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226234945/http://www.refworld.org/country,,AMNESTY,,PAK,,53c661084,0.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==== Death of Arshad Sharif ==== | |||
After 9/11, ISI was supposedly purged of members who did not support President ]'s stance towards the ] and ]. Newsreports in July 2008, however indicate that ISI may instead have chosen to merely suppress the activities of these individuals rather than remove them from office. | |||
Following General Bajwa's retirement, the mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to formally charge General Bajwa, among other military officers, for the "targeted, premeditated, planned and calculated murder" of her son, claiming members of the military's Public Relations division began threatening Sharif after he emerged as a critic of General Bajwa following the success of the vote-of-no-confidence against Imran Khan, particularly in a program called “Woh Kon Tha”, aired on ARY News, in which Sharif insinuated General Bajwa had a hand in overthrowing his democratically elected Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 December 2022 |title=Slain Journalist Arshad Sharif's Mother Wants Gen Bajwa, DG ISI To Be Nominated In The FIR |url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/2022/12/07/slain-journalist-arshad-sharifs-mother-wants-gen-bajwa-dg-isi-to-be-nominated-in-the-fir/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=The Friday Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Malik |first1=Hasnaat |date=7 December 2022 |title=SC orders special JIT on journalist's murder |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389880/sc-orders-special-jit-on-journalists-murder |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=The Express Tribune}}</ref> | |||
=== Interference in Judicial Matters === | |||
International community considers the ISI as a unit which has become a state in itself its credentials are highly questioned, the ISI has been found time to time being supporting terrorists groups in the region and there is some talk about its links with Al-Queda,the top leadershop of Al-Queda seem to have links with the top officials of ISI, its rumoured that its ranks are inflitrated by Islamic terrorists.]].<ref name="BBC ">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2812181.stm|title=Al-Qaeda suspect 'under interrogation'|accessdate=2006-05-05}}</ref> | |||
==== Islamabad High Court Judges Letter ==== | |||
Some members of the American media and political establishment have questioned Pakistan's commitment in combating the Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants in border areas. In response, Pakistan has pointed to the deployment of nearly 80,000 troops in the border areas and the arrests of more than 700 Al Qaeda members carried out by supposedly ISI members, the most high profile ones including 9/11 mastermind ], as proof that the ISI was serious in its commitment to fighting the ].<ref name="BBC ">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2812181.stm|title=Al-Qaeda suspect 'under interrogation'|accessdate=2006-05-05}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|2024 IHC judges' letter}} | |||
Aljazeera reported <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hussain |first=Abid |title=Judges vs spies: Pakistan's jurists accuse intel agency ISI of intimidation |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/27/judges-vs-spies-pakistans-jurists-accuse-intel-agency-isi-of-intimidation |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> that six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accused the ISI of interference in judicial matters, citing abduction, torture, and surveillance. Despite assurances from ISI leadership, these claims persisted, leading to an investigation by the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan. The incident underscored ongoing tensions between Pakistan's judiciary and intelligence agencies, reflecting broader issues of governance and institutional integrity. | |||
== |
==Casualties== | ||
Since Pakistan launched offensives on Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist groups, the country's armed forces, intelligence services (particularly the ISI), military industrial complexes, paramilitary forces, and police forces have come under intense attacks. The ISI has played a major role in targeting these groups and has faced retaliatory strikes as well. {{as of|2011}}, more than 300 ISI officials have been killed.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Taliban links|first1=ISPR denies|title=Pakistan military denies BBC report on Taliban links|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/669328/pakistan-military-denies-bbc-report-on-taliban-links|work=Dawn|date=27 October 2011|access-date=9 May 2015|archive-date=26 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626134758/http://www.dawn.com/news/669328/pakistan-military-denies-bbc-report-on-taliban-links|url-status=live}}</ref> Major incidents when attempts were made to target the ISI include: | |||
{{reflist|2}} | |||
* A suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a bus carrying officials killing at least 28 people on 28 November 2007, outside the ISI office in Rawalpindi.<ref name=PindiAttackNewsRef>{{cite news|title=11 Adiala Jail detainees are hardcore|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12549-11-Adiala-Jail-detainees-are-hardcore|access-date=22 June 2014|newspaper=The News|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129100211/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12549-11-Adiala-Jail-detainees-are-hardcore|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* 30 people, including four ISI officials and 14 policemen, were killed and over 300 were injured when three people attacked the ISI office in Lahore on 27 May 2009. The attackers fired at the ISI office and policemen present there. The guards at the ISI building fought back. During the incident an explosive-laden vehicle detonated.<ref name=LahoreAttackNationRef>{{cite news|title=Terrorists attack Lahore ISI office|url=http://www.nation.com.pk/Politics/28-May-2009/Terrorists-attack-Lahore-ISI-office|access-date=22 June 2014|newspaper=The Nation|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129091512/http://nation.com.pk/Politics/28-May-2009/Terrorists-attack-Lahore-ISI-office|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=LahoreAttackBBCRef>{{cite news|title=Huge blast rocks Pakistani city|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8069467.stm|access-date=22 June 2014|publisher=BBC News|date=27 May 2009|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129063050/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8069467.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* At least 13 people and 10 military personnel were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his van at the agency's Peshawar office on 13 November 2009. Around {{convert|400|kg}} of explosives were used which destroyed a significant portion of the building.<ref name=PeshawarAttack>{{cite news|title=13 killed, 60 injured in Peshawar suicide attack: Terrorists strike ISI|url=http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/main/14-Nov-2009/13-killed-60-injured-in-peshawar-suicide-attack-terrorists-strike-isi|access-date=22 June 2014|newspaper=Daily Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626103526/http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/main/14-Nov-2009/13-killed-60-injured-in-peshawar-suicide-attack-terrorists-strike-isi|archive-date=26 June 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> | |||
* ISBN 0-8059-9594-3, By Muhammad Ayub; An Army, Its Role and Rule ( A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil from 1947-1999). | |||
* Two attackers ambushed the Multan office where eight people were killed and 45 were injured on 8 December 2009. Two army personnel were killed while seven officials were injured. About {{convert|800|-|1000|kg}} of explosives were used.<ref name=MultanAttack>{{cite news|title=TTP claims responsibility: ISI building targeted in Multan; 8 die|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/507455/ttp-claims-responsibility-isi-building-targeted-in-multan-8-die|access-date=22 June 2014|newspaper=Dawn News|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129082702/http://www.dawn.com/news/507455/ttp-claims-responsibility-isi-building-targeted-in-multan-8-die|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ISBN 0-9733687-6-4. By Abid Ullah Jan; From ] to ISI: The Saga of Entrapment Continues | |||
* A car bomb exploded at CNG Station in Faisalabad on 8 March 2011, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the nearby ISI office was the target. No losses of ISI personnel were reported, and only one official was injured.<ref name=FaisalabadAttack>{{cite news|title=Faisalabad carnage: Car bomb kills 25, injures over 100|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/129384/blast-in-faisalabad-injures-12/|access-date=22 June 2014|newspaper=The Express Tribune|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224011904/https://tribune.com.pk/story/129384/blast-in-faisalabad-injures-12/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ISBN 0-85052-860-7, By ISI brigadier Mohammad Yousaf; Afghanistan the Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower. | |||
* Three intelligence officials were killed and one was wounded when a vehicle carrying agency personnel was ambushed in FR Bannu on 14 September 2011.<ref name=BannuVehicleAttack1>{{cite news|title=Three ISI officials killed in FR Bannu Attack|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-8814-Three-ISI-officials-killed-in-FR-Bannu-attack|access-date=26 June 2014|newspaper=The News|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129100208/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-8814-Three-ISI-officials-killed-in-FR-Bannu-attack|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ISBN 1-59420-007-6, By Steve Coll; ]. | |||
* Four people, including ISI officials, were killed and 35 were injured when the local office of the ISI was attacked by five suicide bombers in Sukkur on 24 July 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1031613|title=Suicide bombers target ISI compound in Sukkur|date=24 July 2013|website=dawn.com}}</ref> | |||
* ISBN 1-57488-550-2, Brassey's International Intelligence Yearbook. | |||
* ISBN 0-415-30797-X, By Jerrold E Schneider, P R Chari, Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, Stephen Phillip Cohen; Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compound Crisis in 1990 | |||
* ISBN 0-8021-4124-2, By George Crile; Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History | |||
* ISBN 1-84277-113-2, By Jonathan Bloch; Global Intelligence : The World's Secret Services Today | |||
* ISBN 0-385-50672-4, By James Bamford; A Pretext for War : 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{Portal|Pakistan}} | |||
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== Citations == | ||
{{Reflist|30em}} | |||
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== General bibliography == | |||
{{Pakistani intelligence agencies}} | |||
* {{citation |last=Gregory |first=Shaun |year=2007 |title=The ISI and the War on Terrorism |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=30 |issue=12 |pages=1013–1031 |issn=1057-610X |doi=10.1080/10576100701670862 |s2cid=71331428 |ref={{sfnref|Gregory, The ISI and the War on Terrorism|2007}}}} | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* {{citation |last=Ayub |first=Muhammad |year=2005 |title=An Army, Its Role and Rule: A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil from 1947–1999 |location=Pittsburgh |publisher=RoseDog Books |isbn=0-8059-9594-3}} | |||
* {{citation |last=Bamford |first=James |year=2004 |title=A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies |url=https://archive.org/details/pretextforwar91100bamf |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=0-385-50672-4 }} | |||
* {{citation |last=Coll |first=Steve |year=2004 |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to 10 September 2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-007-6}} | |||
* {{citation |last=Coll |first=Steve |year=2018 |title=Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001–2016 |location=UK |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1-84614-660-2 |oclc=996422824}} | |||
* {{citation |last=Crile |first=George |year=2003 |title=Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History |url=https://archive.org/details/charliewilsonswa00geor |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=0-8021-4124-2 }} | |||
* {{citation |last=Henderson |first=Robert D'A |year=2003 |title=Brassey's International Intelligence Yearbook |location=Dulles, VA |publisher=Brassey's |isbn=1-57488-550-2}} | |||
* {{citation |last=Jan |first=Abid Ullah |year=2006 |title=From BCCI to ISI: The Saga of Entrapment Continues|title-link=Bank of Credit and Commerce International |location=Ottawa |publisher=Pragmatic Publishing |isbn=0-9733687-6-4 }} | |||
* {{citation |last=Kiessling |first=Hein G. |year=2016 |title=Faith, Unity, Discipline: The ISI of Pakistan |location=India |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-93-5177-796-0}} | |||
* {{citation |last1=Schneider |first1=Jerrold E. |first2=P. R. |last2=Chari |first3=Pervaiz Iqbal |last3=Cheema |first4=Stephen Phillip |last4=Cohen |year=2003 |title=Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compound Crisis in 1990 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-30797-X}} | |||
* {{citation |last1=Todd |first1=Paul |first2=Jonathan |last2=Bloch |year=2003 |title=Global Intelligence: The World's Secret Services Today |location=Dhaka |publisher=University Press |isbn=1-84277-113-2}} | |||
* {{citation |last1=Yousaf |first1=Mohammad |first2=Mark |last2=Adkin |year=2001 |title=Afghanistan the Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower |location=Barnsley |publisher=Leo Cooper |isbn=0-85052-860-7}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 14:56, 27 December 2024
Military intelligence service of Pakistan
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بین الخدماتی استخبارات | |
Insignia of the ISI | |
Intelligence agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1 January 1948; 76 years ago (1948-01-01) |
Headquarters | Aabpara, Islamabad, Pakistan 33°42′14.3″N 73°04′47.0″E / 33.703972°N 73.079722°E / 33.703972; 73.079722 |
Motto | خُذُواحِذرُکُم "take your precautions" (heraldic slogan) |
Employees | ~10,000 (2009) |
Intelligence agency executive | |
Child Intelligence agency |
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; Urdu: بین الخدماتی استخبارات, romanized: bain-al-xidmātī istixbārāt) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant to Pakistan's national security. The ISI reports to its director-general and is primarily focused on providing intelligence to the government of Pakistan.
The ISI primarily consists of serving military officers drawn on secondment from the three service branches of the Pakistan Armed Forces: the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, and Pakistan Air Force, hence the name "Inter-Services"; the agency also recruits civilians. Since 1971, it has been formally headed by a serving three-star general of the Pakistan Army, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in consultation with the Chief of Army Staff, who recommends three officers for the position. As of 30 September 2024, the ISI is headed by Lt. Gen. Asim Malik. The Director-General reports directly to both the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff.
Relatively unknown outside of Pakistan since its inception, the agency gained global recognition and fame in the 1980s when it backed the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War in the former Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Over the course of the conflict, the ISI worked in close coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States and the Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom to run Operation Cyclone, a program to train and fund the mujahideen in Afghanistan with support from China, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim nations.
Following the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, the ISI provided strategic support and intelligence to the Taliban against the Northern Alliance during the Afghan Civil War in the 1990s. The ISI has strong links with jihadist groups, particularly in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Its special warfare unit is the Covert Action Division. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in their first ever open acknowledgement in 2011 in US Court, said that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsors and oversees the insurgency in Kashmir by arming separatist militant groups.
History
The Inter-Services Intelligence was established in 1948. It was the brainchild of Major General Walter Cawthorn, then Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army, following the First Kashmir War which had exposed weaknesses in intelligence gathering, sharing, and coordination between the army, air force, navy, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence (MI). The ISI was structured to be operated by officers from the three main military services and to specialize in the collection, analysis, and assessment of external military and non-military intelligence.
While Cawthorn established the ISI, it was Syed Shahid Hamid who was tasked with fully setting up the agency. In a confidential report to the Joint Service Commander's Committee, Cawthorn wrote: "In October 1948, Brigadier Shahid Hamid was assigned the task of building this organization from scratch. Despite significant challenges, such as the lack of experienced personnel and essential records, as well as continued staff shortages, he successfully developed the Directorate into a functional organization. He also gained the trust and cooperation of the Service Intelligence authorities in the United Kingdom. Although much remains to be done, Brigadier Shahid Hamid has achieved far more than seemed possible when he took on the task less than two years ago."
Naval Commander Syed Mohammad Ahsan, who served as Deputy Director Naval Intelligence of Pakistan and helped formulate ISI procedure, undertook and managed the recruitment and expansion of the ISI. After the 1958 coup d'état, all national intelligence agencies were directly controlled by the president and Chief Martial Law Administrator. The maintenance of national security, which was the principal function of these agencies, resulted in the consolidation of the Ayub regime. Any criticism of the regime was seen as a threat to national security.
On 5 July 1977 through Operation Fair Play, the ISI began collecting intelligence on the Pakistan Communist Party and the Pakistan Peoples Party. The Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s saw the enhancement of the ISI's covert operations. A special Afghanistan section known as the SS Directorate was created under the command of Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf to oversee day-to-day operations in Afghanistan. Officers from the ISI's Covert Action Division received training in the United States, and "many covert action experts of the CIA were attached to the ISI to guide it in its operations against Soviet troops by using the Afghan Mujahideen".
Many analysts (mainly Indian and American) believe that the ISI provides support to militant groups, though others think these allegations remain unsubstantiated.
The ISI has often been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks across India including militancy in Kashmir, the July 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings, the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2006 Varanasi bombings, the August 2007 Hyderabad bombings, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The ISI has been accused of supporting Taliban forces and recruiting and training mujahideen to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Based on communication interceptions, US intelligence agencies concluded Pakistan's ISI was behind the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on 7 July 2008, a charge that the governments of India and Afghanistan had laid previously. It is believed to be aiding these organisations in eradicating perceived enemies or those opposed to their cause, including India, Russia, China, Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other members of NATO. Satellite imagery from the Federal Bureau of Investigation suggest the existence of several terrorist camps in Pakistan, with at least one militant admitting to being trained in the country. As part of the ongoing Kashmir conflict, Pakistan is alleged to be backing separatist militias. Many nonpartisan sources believe that officials within Pakistan's military and the ISI sympathise with and aid Islamic terrorists, saying that the "ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the al-Qaeda affiliate Jaish-e-Mohammed".
General Javed Nasir confessed to assisting the besieged Bosnian Muslims, supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang despite a UN arms embargo, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) of Pakistan is headed by the Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence. The overarching intelligence coordination body was given assent by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in November 2020. It held its inaugural session on 24 June 2021, marking the date the committee became functional.
Organization
Further information: Director-General of Inter-Services IntelligenceA director-general, who is traditionally a serving lieutenant general in the Pakistan Army, heads the ISI. Three deputy director generals, who are serving two-star military officers, report directly to the director general with each deputy heading three wings respectively:
- Internal Wing – responsible for domestic intelligence, domestic counter-intelligence, counter-espionage, and counter-terrorism.
- External Wing – responsible for external intelligence, external counter-intelligence, and espionage.
- Foreign Relations Wing – responsible for diplomatic intelligence and foreign relations intelligence.
Military officers of the three branches of the Pakistan Armed Forces and paramilitary forces such as ANF, ASF, Pakistan Rangers, Frontier Corps, Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts and Maritime Security Agency as well as civilian officers from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Customs, Police, Judiciary and Ministry of Defence make up ISI's general staff. They are recruited on deputations for three to four years and enhance the ISI's professional competence. According to some experts, the ISI is the largest intelligence agency in the world in terms of total staff. While the total number has never been made public, experts estimate around 10,000 officers and staff, which does not include informants or assets.
The wings are further divided into various directorates, which are sub-divided into departments, each directorate is usually headed by a major general, air marshal, or rear admiral.
Directorates | Name | Rank |
---|---|---|
Director-General, Security and Administration (DG S&A) | Amir Naveed Warraich | Major general |
Director-General Analysis (DG A) | Shahid Amir Afsar | Major general |
Director-General H (DG H) | Syed Imdad Hussain Shah | Major general |
Director-General Counter-Terrorism (DG CT) | Akif Iqbal | Major general |
Director-General Personnel (DG P) | Muhammad Kashif Azad | Major general |
Director-General, K (DG K) | Muhammad Hassan Khattak | Major general |
Director-General X (DG X) | Muhammad Shahbaz Tabassum | Major general |
Director-General, F (DG F) | Faheem Amer | Major general |
Director-General, Technical (DG T) | Adeel Haider Minhas | Major general |
Director-General, Counter Intelligence (DG CI) | Faisal Naseer | Major general |
Director-General, Media (DG M) | Muhammad Saleem | Rear admiral |
Departments
- Covert Action Division: Its roles are similar to the Special Activities Division of the CIA and a handful of officers are trained by that division. The division has been active since the 1960s.
- Joint Intelligence X: Coordinates the other departments in the ISI. Intelligence and information gathered from the other departments are sent to JIX which prepares and processes the information and from there prepares reports which are presented.
- Joint Intelligence Bureau: Responsible for gathering anti-state intelligence and fake drugs, fake currency, and TTP.
- Joint Counterintelligence Bureau: Focused on foreign intelligence agencies.
- Joint Intelligence North: Exclusively responsible for the Jammu and Kashmir region and Gilgit-Baltistan.
- Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous: Responsible for espionage, including offensive intelligence operations, in other countries.
- Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau: Operates intelligence collections along the India-Pakistan border. The JSIB is the ELINT, COMINT, and SIGINT directorate that is charged with diverting attacks from foreign non-communications electromagnetic radiations emanating from sources other than nuclear detonations or radioactive sources.
- Joint Intelligence Technical: Deals with development of science and technology to advance Pakistani intelligence gathering. The directorate is charged with taking steps against electronic warfare attacks in Pakistan. Without any exception, officers from this division are reported to be engineer officers and military scientists who deal with the military promotion of science and technology. There are also separate explosives and chemical and biological warfare sections.
- SS Directorate: Comprises officers from the Special Services Group. It monitors the activities of terrorist groups that operate against Pakistan. It is comparable to the FBI and the National Clandestine Service (NCS), and is responsible for special operations against terrorists.
- Political Internal Division: Monitors the financial funding of the right-wing political science sphere against left-wing political science circles. This department was involved in providing funds to anti-left wing forces during the general elections of 1965, 1977, 1985, 1988, and 1990. The department has been inactive since March 2012 with the new director general taking operational charge of the ISI.
Director generals
Main article: Director-General of Inter-Services IntelligenceThe Director General of the ISI is among the most powerful posts in Pakistan. For example, according to Mohammad Sohail, shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange went down in October 2021 over concerns regarding the appointment of the ISI chief. The benchmark KSE-100 index fell 1.51%. According to retired air marshal Shahzad Chaudhry, three to four names are provided by the Chief of Army Staff, and the prime minister selects the director general from that list, and the appointed serves for two to three years. Before 2021, the appointment process of the Director-General followed no formal protocol other than verbal discussion between the Prime Minister and the head of the army.
Walter Cawthorn was the first head of the ISI. His successor, Syed Shahid Hamid is said to have supported Ayub Khan's rise to power. After his retirement, he helped President Muhammed Zia-ul-Haq.
Director General | Start of term | End of term | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Major General | January 1948 | June 1948 |
2 | Brigadier | 14 July 1948 | 22 August 1950 |
3 | Brigadier | 23 August 1950 | May 1951 |
4 | Colonel
Muhammad Afzal Malik |
May 1951 | April 1953 |
5 | Brigadier | April 1953 | August 1955 |
6 | Brigadier
Sher Bahadur |
August 1955 | September 1957 |
7 | Brigadier
Muhammad Hayat |
September 1957 | October 1959 |
8 | Brigadier | October 1959 | May 1966 |
9 | Major General
Muhammed Akbar Khan |
May 1966 | September 1971 |
10 | Major General | September 1971 | 16 September 1978 |
11 | Lieutenant General | 17 September 1978 | 20 June 1979 |
12 | Lieutenant General | 21 June 1979 | 29 March 1987 |
13 | Lieutenant General | 29 March 1987 | 29 May 1989 |
14 | Lieutenant General | 30 May 1989 | August 1990 |
15 | Lieutenant General | August 1990 | 13 March 1992 |
16 | Lieutenant General | 14 March 1992 | 13 May 1993 |
17 | Lieutenant General | 14 May 1993 | October 1995 |
18 | Lieutenant General | October 1995 | October 1998 |
19 | Lieutenant General | October 1998 | 12 October 1999 |
20 | Lieutenant General | 20 October 1999 | 7 October 2001 |
21 | Lieutenant General | 7 October 2001 | 5 October 2004 |
22 | Lieutenant General | 5 October 2004 | 8 October 2007 |
23 | Lieutenant General | 9 October 2007 | 29 September 2008 |
24 | Lieutenant General | 1 October 2008 | 18 March 2012 |
25 | Lieutenant General | 19 March 2012 | 7 November 2014 |
26 | Lieutenant General | 7 November 2014 | 11 December 2016 |
27 | Lieutenant General | 11 December 2016 | 25 October 2018 |
28 | Lieutenant General | 25 October 2018 | 16 June 2019 |
29 | Lieutenant General | 17 June 2019 | 19 November 2021 |
30 | Lieutenant General | 20 November 2021 | 29 September 2024 |
31 | Lieutenant General | 30 September 2024 | Incumbent |
Insubordination controversies
The army has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history and has always been unwilling to see its influence being compromised by any civilian leaders. In the 1990s, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appointed retired army officer Shamsur Rahman Kallu as director-general, but army leaders refused to cooperate with Kallu because he had refused to engage in martial-law duties under the previous dictator. In October 1998, Ziauddin Butt was chosen as director general. Though Butt was not the preferred choice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he grew close with him, and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf took over important ISI files. During a military coup a year later, Musharraf arrested Butt, who had been promoted to Chief of Army Staff by Sharif.
On 6 October 2016, the daily newspaper Dawn published a report about a government meeting allegedly arranged by Sharif. The article detailed a presentation by Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry about international pressure to crack down on Pakistan's extremist segments such as Masood Azhar, the Jaish-i-Mohmmad, Hafiz Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Haqqani network. According to Ghazi Salahuddin of The News International, controversy ensued after the October meeting and the Dawn report, which lingered until May 2016. During the October 2016 meeting, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif allegedly revealed that, whenever action had been taken against certain extremist groups by civilian authorities, the security agency had worked secretly to free the arrested parties. According to Salahuddin Ghazi, information minister Pervaiz Rashid lost his portfolio over the Dawn news leak, and a government notification was released about the civilian government's decision after the meeting. On 29 April 2017, the director general released a tweet that said: "Notification on Dawn Leak is incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected." Ghazi stated that a meeting was eventually held between the prime minister and the chief of army staff, and a press conference was held to announce the decision to withdraw the tweet.
2021 disagreement over appointment of ISI Chief
Pakistan's mainstream media reported on the October 2021 constitutional rift between civil and armed wings over the appointment of the director general post only after ministers spoke on the matter. On 6 October 2021, the Pakistan military's media affairs wing announced the replacement of Faiz Hameed with Nadeem Anjum. After two days, it became apparent on social media that the federal government of Pakistan had yet to issue any formal notification for the appointment of the new director general. Rumors became more substantiated when Hameed attended the National Security Committee meeting instead of the expected new director general.
On 13 October 2021, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry informed media that the process of appointing a new director general was in progress, and that the selection is Prime Minister Imran Khan's prerogative. He also noted that the army chief and the prime minister agreed on following correct procedures of appointment according to the Constitution.
Malik Dogar, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs, later said in a talk show that PM Imran Khan wanted Hameed to continue as DG ISI for some more months after taking into consideration Hameed's expertise on the situation in Afghanistan. Dogar further stated that during the cabinet meeting, the prime minister stressed that if the army is a respected institution then the PM Office is also a respected one.
Headquarters
The ISI is headquartered in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. The complex consists of various low-rise buildings separated by lawns and fountains. The entrance to the complex is next to a private hospital. Declan Walsh from The Guardian said that the entrance is "suitably discreet: no sign, just a plainclothes officer packing a pistol who directs visitors through a chicane of barriers, soldiers, and sniffer dogs". Walsh said that the complex "resembles a well-funded private university" and that the buildings are "neatly tended," the lawns are "smooth," and the fountains are "tinkling." He described the central building, which houses the director general's office on the top floor, as "a modern structure with a round, echoing lobby".
Recruitment and training
Both civilians and members of the armed forces can join the ISI. For civilians, recruitment is advertised and handled by both the Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC); they are considered employees of the Ministry of Defence. The FPSC conducts examinations that test the candidate's knowledge of current affairs, English, and various analytical abilities. Based on the results, the FPSC shortlists the candidates and sends the list to the ISI who conduct the initial background checks. Selected candidates are then invited for an interview which is conducted by a joint committee comprising both ISI and FPSC officials, and are then sent to the Defence Services Intelligence Academy (DSIA) for six months of training. The candidates are transferred to different sections for open source information where they serve for five years. After five years of basic service, officers are entrusted with sensitive jobs and considered part of the core team.
Major operations
By country
Afghanistan
Main article: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Afghanistan- 1982–1997: ISI is believed to have had access to Osama bin Laden in the past. B. Raman, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer, claims that the Central Intelligence Agency through the ISI promoted the smuggling of heroin into Afghanistan to turn Soviet troops into heroin addicts and thus greatly reduce their fighting potential.
- 1986: Worrying that among the large influx of Afghan refugees who had come into Pakistan because of the Soviet–Afghan War were members of KHAD (Afghan Intelligence), the ISI convinced Mansoor Ahmed, who was the chargé d'affaires of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, to turn his back on the Soviet-backed Afghan government. He and his family were secretly escorted out of their residence and given safe passage on a London-bound British Airways flight in exchange for classified information in regard to Afghan agents in Pakistan. The Soviet and Afghan diplomats did not find his family.
- 1990: According to Peter Tomsen, the United States Special Envoy to Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan had tried to bring Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to power in Afghanistan against the opposition of all other mujahideen commanders and factions as early as 1990. In October 1990, the ISI had devised a plan for Hekmatyar to conduct a mass bombardment of the Afghan capital Kabul, then still under communist rule, with possible Pakistani troop reinforcements. This unilateral ISI-Hekmatyar plan was carried out, though the thirty most-important mujahideen commanders had agreed to hold a conference inclusive of all Afghan groups to decide on a common future strategy. The United States finally put pressure on Pakistan to stop the 1990 plan, which was subsequently called off until 1992.
- 1994: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf admitted to supporting the Taliban until 9/11. According to Pakistani Afghanistan expert Ahmed Rashid, "between 1994 and 1999, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Pakistanis trained and fought in Afghanistan" on the side of the Taliban.
- 2008: Militants attacked the Indian Consulate General in Jalalabad in 2007. According to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, individuals arrested by the Afghan government stated that the ISI was behind the attack and had given them ₹120,000 for the operation.
- 2001 onwards: American officials believe members of the Pakistani intelligence service are alerting militants to imminent American missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. In October 2009, Davood Moradian, a senior policy adviser to foreign minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, said the British and American governments were fully aware of the ISI's role but lacked the courage to confront Islamabad. He claimed that the Afghan government had given British and American intelligence agents evidence that proved ISI involvement in bombings.
- 2010: A new report by the London School of Economics (LSE) claimed to provide the most concrete evidence that the ISI is providing funding, training, and sanctuary to the Taliban insurgency on a scale much larger than previously thought. The report's author, Matt Waldman, spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan and concluded that Pakistan's relationship with the insurgents ran far deeper than previously realised. Some of those interviewed suggested that the organisation even attended meetings of the Taliban's supreme council, the Quetta Shura. A spokesman for the Pakistani military dismissed the report, describing it as "malicious". General David Petraeus, commander of the US Central Command, refused to endorse this report in a US congressional hearing and suggested that any contacts between ISI and extremists are for legitimate intelligence purposes; in his words, "you have to have contact with bad guys to get intelligence on bad guys".
- 2021: The Fall of Kabul was seen as a major strategic victory for ISI that has long been seeking a pro-Pakistan government in Kabul. The ISI has always aspired to see Islamists as the rulers of Afghanistan. The rise of Taliban in Kabul was considered as an achievement for ISI's strategic depth in Afghanistan.
- 2021: It was reported that ISI mediated talks between different factions of Taliban on the power sharing. ISI ensured Haqqani Network holds lion's share in the Taliban's Cabinet of Afghanistan.
Bosnia
Main article: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Bosnia- 1993: The ISI was involved in supplying arms to the Bosnian mujahideen in Bosnia-Herzegovina to prevent a total genocide of Muslims at the hands of the Serbs.
India
Main article: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in IndiaIndian intelligence agencies have claimed they have proof of ISI involvement with the Naxalites. ISI is also reportedly engaged in supporting Khalistani Separatism in India. A classified report accessed by the Indian newspaper Asian Age said "the ISI in particular wants Naxals to cause large-scale damage to infrastructure projects and industrial units operating in the interior parts of the country where ISI's own terror network is non-existent".
- 1965: The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in Kashmir provoked a major crisis in intelligence. When the war began, there was a complete collapse of operations across all intelligence agencies. They were unable to locate an Indian armored division because of their preoccupation with political affairs. Ayub Khan set up a committee headed by General Yahya Khan to examine the agencies' workings.
- 1969–1974: According to Indian spymaster B. Raman, the Central Intelligence Agency and ISI worked with the Nixon administration to assist the Khalistan movement in Punjab.
- 1980: An Indian agent captured by the PAF Field Intelligence Unit in Karachi said the leader of the spy ring was being headed by the food and beverages manager at the Intercontinental Hotel in Karachi and a number of serving Air Force officers and ratings were on his payroll. The ISI decided to question the manager to see who he was in contact with, but the former president of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, intervened and wanted the manager and anyone else involved in the case arrested immediately. The manager was proven completely innocent afterwards.
- 1983: Ilam Din, also known as Ilmo, was an Indian spy working in Pakistan who had eluded capture multiple times. On 23 March at 3:00 a.m., Ilmo and two other Indian spies were apprehended by Pakistani Rangers as they illegally crossed into Pakistan from India. Their mission was to spy and report back on the new military equipment that Pakistan would be showing in their annual 23 March Pakistan Day Parade. After being thoroughly interrogated, ISI forced Ilmo to send false information to his Research and Analysis Wing handlers in India. This process continued and many more Indian spies in Pakistan, such as Roop Lal, were discovered.
- 1984: ISI uncovered a secret deal in which Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi granted naval base facilities to the USSR in Vizag and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the alleged attachment of KGB advisers to then-Lieutenant General Sunderji who was the commander of Operation Blue Star in the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984.
- 1984: ISI failed to perform a proper background check on the British company which supplied the Pakistan Army with its Arctic-weather gear. When Pakistan attempted to secure the top of the Siachen Glacier in 1984, it placed a large order for Arctic-weather gear with the same company that also supplied the Indian Army with its gear. The Indians were alerted to the large Pakistani purchase and deduced that this large purchase could be used to equip troops to capture the glacier. India mountedOperation Meghdoot and captured the entire glacier.
- 1988: The ISI implemented Operation Tupac, a three-part action plan for covertly supporting Kashmiri militants in their fight against Indian authorities in Kashmir, initiated by President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 After the success of Operation Tupac, support of Kashmiri militants became Pakistan's state policy. ISI is widely believed to train and support militancy in the Kashmir region.
- 2014: In February (disclosed in March 2015), the then-Indian chief of army staff General Bikram Singh issued orders to deploy troops along the borders with Pakistan in the Rajasthan and Jammu-Kashmir regions, but the ISI got the information in a few hours and in reaction the Pakistan Army deployed its troops near the Indian borders, which alarmed Indian authorities.
- 2016: Home Minister Balochistan, Pakistan, Sarfraz Bugti stated on 26 March that a serving Indian Naval officer, Kulbhushan Yadav, was arrested in Balochistan by the ISI.
Pakistan
The ISI was accused of being involved in the Mehran bank scandal, in which high-ranking ISI and Army officers were allegedly given large sums of money by Yunus Habib, owner of the Mehran Bank, to deposit the ISI's foreign exchange reserves in his bank.
- 1980: The ISI became aware of a plot to assassinate Zia-ul-Haq and launch a coup to depose replace the government with an Islamic one. The attempted assassination and coup were planned for 23 March 1980, during the annual 23 March Pakistan Day Parade. The masterminds behind the coup were high-ranking military and intelligence officers, and were led by Major General Tajammal Hussain Malik; his son Captain Naveed; and his nephew Major Riaz, a former military intelligence officer. The ISI decided against arresting the men outright because they did not know how deep the conspiracy went, and kept them under strict surveillance. As the date of the annual parade approached, the ISI was satisfied that it had identified the major players in the conspiracy and arrested the men along with some high-ranking military officers.
- 1985: The ISI's Internal Political Division was accused by various members of the Pakistan People's Party of assassinating Shahnawaz Bhutto, one of Benazir Bhutto's two brothers, by poisoning in the French Riviera in the middle of 1985 as an attempt to intimidate her into not returning to Pakistan to direct the movement against Zia-ul-Haq's military government, but no proof has been found implicating the ISI.
- 1987: The ISI failed to prevent the KHAD/KGB terror campaign in Pakistan in 1987, which led to the deaths of about 324 Pakistanis in separate incidents.
- 1990: The 1990 elections were widely believed to have been rigged by the ISI in favor of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) party, a conglomerate of nine mainly rightist parties by the ISI under Lieutenant General Hameed Gul, to ensure the defeat of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the polls.
- 2000s: The ISI engaged with Pakistan armed forces in the War in North-West Pakistan against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and is reported to have lost 78 ISI personnel.
- 2006: Rangzieb Ahmed brought a civil claim against MI5 for suggesting the ISI arrested him in 2006 and colluded in torturing him by submitting questions which were put to him under torture in Pakistan.
- 2011: The ISI arrested five Pakistanis who worked as CIA informants who passed information that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. However, among them in particular, the US was trying to seek the release of Shakil Afridi, who ran a fake vaccination campaign that provided critical intelligence for the raid on the bin Laden compound. However, the Pakistani government and military establishment refused to release Afridi, who has since been serving a 33-year prison sentence.
Libya
- 1978: The ISI spied on the residence of Colonel Hussain Imam Mabruk, who was a military attaché to the Libyan embassy in Islamabad, after he made some inflammatory statements about the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq. Mabruk was seen talking with two Pakistani men who entered and left the compound suspiciously. The ISI monitored the two men, who were later identified as Pakistani exiles who hated the current military regime and were Bhutto loyalists. They had received terrorist training in Libya and were ready to embark on a terrorist campaign in Pakistan to force the Army to step down from power. All members of the conspiracy were apprehended before any damage could be done.
- 1981: A Libyan security company called Al Murtaza Associates sent recruiters to Pakistan to entice former soldiers and servicemen to take high-paying security jobs in Libya. In reality, Libya was recruiting mercenaries to fight against Chad and Egypt, as it had border disputes with both nations. ISI became aware of the plot and the scheme was stopped. (See also CIA transnational anti-crime and anti-drug activities#Southwest Asia, Operation Cyclone, Badaber Uprising.)
Iran
- 2000s: ISI has been accused by Iran for supporting insurgency in Sistan-Baluchistan province by aiding groups like Jundallah which carried out score of terror attacks against Iranian forces.2010s.
- 2000s: ISI has been under repeated accusation of aiding Jaish-ul-Adl which is fighting for the separation of Sistan-Baluchistan from Iran.
- 2010s. ISI was locked into proxy war with IRGC of Iran to gain the maximum influence in the Southern Afghanistan.
- 2016: Uzair Baloch, a gangster of the Lyari Gang War who holds Iranian nationality, was arrested in an intelligence-based operation by Sindh Rangers. In his handwritten confession, Baloch stated that officials of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence offered him an all-expenses-paid residence in Tehran in exchange for providing sensitive information about the Pakistan Army's operations in Karachi. He says that the offer came through a third-party while he was staying in Iran's port city of Chabahar.
- 2021: Iranian Ministry of Intelligence also known as VAJA adopting ISI model to curb the internal dissent which Iranian regime is facing. It was believed that VAJA wants to promote same discipline as ISI to better fight with threats that Iran is facing from the internal chaos.
Qatar
- 2023: Qatar' State Security arrested eight former Indian Navy officials working for RAW who were spying on Qatar's stealth submarine programme at the behest of Israel. It was alleged by Indian media that Qatar was able to unearth spy network with the information provided by the ISI.
Iraq
- 2017: After ISIS's defeat in Mosul, Iraqi envoy to Pakistan, Ali Yasin Muhammad Karim, held a press conference where he expressed his government's appreciation for Pakistan's help during the fight against the terrorist organization. He praised the intelligence-sharing of the ISI and expressed interest in continuing the intelligence cooperation between the two countries.
France
- 1979: The ISI discovered a surveillance mission at the Kahuta Research Laboratories nuclear complex on 26 June 1979 by the French Ambassador to Pakistan Le Gourrierec and First Secretary Jean Forlot. Both were arrested and their cameras and other sensitive equipment were confiscated. Documents intercepted later showed that the two were recruited by the CIA.
Soviet Union and post-Soviet states
- 1980: The ISI had placed a mole in the Soviet Union's embassy in Islamabad. They reported that the Third Secretary in the Soviet Embassy was after information regarding the Karakoram Highway and was getting it from a middle-level employee, Ejaz, in the Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO). The ISI contacted Ejaz, who confessed that a few months earlier a Soviet diplomat approached him and threatened his family unless he divulged sensitive information about the highway such as the road's alignment, bridge locations, and the number of Chinese personnel working on the highway. Instead of confronting the Soviet diplomat, the ISI gave him false information until the Soviet diplomat was satisfied that Ejaz had no further information and dropped him as a source.
- 1991–1993: Major General Sultan Habib, who was an operative of the ISI's Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous department, successfully procured nuclear material while being posted as the defence attaché in the Pakistani Embassy in Moscow from 1991 to 1993 and concurrently obtained other materials from Central Asian Republics, Poland and the former Czechoslovakia. After Moscow, Habib coordinated shipping missiles from North Korea and the training of Pakistani experts in missile production, both of which strengthened Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and their missile delivery systems.
United Kingdom
Main article: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in the United KingdomUnited States
Main article: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in the United States- 1980s: The ISI intercepted two American private-sector weapons dealers during the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s. One American diplomat lived in the F-7/4 sector of Islamabad and was spotted by an ISI agent in a seedy part of Rawalpindi, drawing attention because of his automobile's diplomatic plates. He was bugged and subsequently trailed and found to be in contact with tribal groups and supplying them with weapons for their fight against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. The second American weapons dealer was Eugene Clegg, a teacher in the American International School. One American International School employee and undercover agent, Naeem, was arrested while waiting to clear a shipment from Islamabad customs. All of them were put out of business.
- 2000s: The ISI was suspicious about the CIA's attempted penetration of Pakistan nuclear assets and intelligence gathering in the Pakistani lawless tribal areas. Based on these suspicions, it was speculated that the ISI pursued a counter-intelligence program against CIA operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Former director general Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is also reported to have said, the "real aim of U.S. strategy is to denuclearize Pakistan".
- 2011: In the aftermath of a shooting involving American CIA agent Raymond Davis, the ISI became more alert and suspicious about the CIA's spy network in Pakistan, which had disrupted ISI-CIA cooperation. At least 30 suspected covert American operatives have suspended their activities in Pakistan and 12 have reportedly left the country.
- A Chinese woman believed to be an ISI agent, who headed the Chinese unit of a US manufacturer, was charged with illegally exporting high-performance coatings for Pakistan's nuclear power plants. Xun Wang, a former managing director of PPG Paints Trading in Shanghai, a Chinese subsidiary of United States-based PPG Industries, Inc., was indicted on a charge of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and related offences. Wang was accused of conspiring to export and re-export specially designed, high-performance epoxy coatings to the Chashma 2 Nuclear Power Plant in Pakistan via a third-party distributor in the People's Republic of China. Alleged ISI operative Mohammed Tasleem, an attaché in the New York consulate, was discovered to be issuing threats against Pakistanis living in the United States to prevent them from speaking openly about Pakistan's government in 2010 by the FBI. US officials and scholars say the ISI has a systematic campaign to threaten those who speak critically of the Pakistani military.
Sri Lanka
- 2000s: ISI played pivotal role in crushing Tamil Insurgency in Sri Lanka which was being supported by India's RAW to carve out separate Tamil country for the Tamils of Sri Lanka. ISI, in response to the RAW's machinations, started to equip, train and provide logistical support to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in their war against Tamil rebels. ISI supplied multi-barrel rocket launcher systems and other weaponry, which halted the offensive. ISI, by supplying high-tech military equipment such as 22 Al-Khalid main battle tanks, 250,000 rounds of mortar ammunition and 150,000 hand grenades, and sending army officers to Sri Lanka, played a key role in the ultimate defeat of Tamil Tigers in May 2009. The victory of Sri Lankan Armed Forces on Tamil Tigers ultimately strengthened Pakistan-Sri Lanka ties.
- 2011: ISI started to train State Police of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan State Intelligence Service on intelligence gathering.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants captured
- Ramzi Yousef: One of the planners of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Bojinka plot. Pakistani intelligence, and the Department of State – U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agents, captured Yousef in Islamabad, Pakistan. On 7 February 1995, they raided room number 16 in the Su-Casa Guest House in Islamabad and captured Yousef before he could move to Peshawar.
- Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi: A Libyan paramilitary trainer for Al-Qaeda, attempted to flee Afghanistan in November 2001 following the collapse of the Taliban, precipitating the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He was captured by Pakistani forces.
- Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh: A British-born terrorist of Pakistani descent who was arrested by Pakistani police on 12 February 2002 in Lahore for his involvement with the Pearl kidnapping. Pearl had been kidnapped, had his throat slit, and then beheaded. He was named the chief suspect, but claimed he had surrendered to the ISI a week earlier.
- Abu Zubaydah: An Al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for conceiving multiple terrorist plots, including sending Ahmed Ressam to blow up the Los Angeles airport in 2000. He was captured on 28 March 2002, by ISI, CIA, and FBI agents after they raided several safe houses in Faisalabad, Pakistan.
- Ramzi bin al-Shibh: An Al-Qaeda terrorist responsible for planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the USS Cole bombing, and the 2002 Ghriba synagogue bombing in Tunisia. On 11 September 2002, the ISI captured Ramzi bin al-Shibh during a raid in Karachi.
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: The principal architect of the 9/11 attacks and other significant terrorist plots over the last twenty years, including the World Trade Center 1993 bombings, the Bojinka plot, an aborted 2002 attack on the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, the Bali nightclub bombings, the failed bombing of American Airlines Flight 63, the Millennium Plot, and the murder of Daniel Pearl. On 1 March 2003, the ISI captured him in a joint raid with the CIA's Special Activities Division paramilitary operatives and Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
- Abu Faraj Farj al-Liby: Mastermind of two failed attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life in May 2005.
- Maulvi Omar: Senior aid to Baitullah Mehsud, who was captured by the ISI in August 2009.
- Abdul Ghani Baradar: The Taliban's deputy commander who was captured by Pakistani intelligence forces in or near Karachi, Pakistan, in early 2010.
Reception
Critics of the ISI say that it has become a state within a state and not accountable enough. Some analysts say that it is because intelligence agencies around the world remain secretive. Critics argue the institution should be more accountable to the president or the prime minister. The Pakistani government disbanded the ISI's political wing in 2008 after its discovery.
U.S. government
During the Cold War, the ISI and the CIA worked together to send spy planes over the Soviet Union. The two organisations also worked closely during the Soviet–Afghan War supporting groups such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami and Jalaluddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network.
Some report the ISI and CIA stepped up cooperation in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to kill and capture senior Al Qaeda leaders such as Sheikh Younis Al Mauritan and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the planner of the 9/11 attacks who was residing in Pakistan. Pakistan claims that around 100 top level al-Qaeda leaders/operators were killed or arrested by the ISI. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan is paying a "big price for supporting the U.S. war against terror groups. I think it is important to note that as they have made these adjustments in their own assessment of their national interests, they're paying a big price for it."
Other senior international officials maintain that senior Al Qaeda leaders such as bin Laden have been hidden by the ISI in major settled areas of Pakistan with the full knowledge of the Pakistani military leadership. A December 2011 analysis report by the Jamestown Foundation came to the conclusion that
In spite of denials by the Pakistani military, evidence is emerging that elements within the Pakistani military harbored Osama bin Laden with the knowledge of former army chief General Pervez Musharraf and possibly former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Former Pakistani General Ziauddin Butt (a.k.a. General Ziauddin Khawaja) revealed at a conference on Pakistani-U.S. relations in October 2011 that according to his knowledge the then former Director-General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan (2004–2008), Brigadier Ijaz Shah (retd.), had kept Osama bin Laden in an Intelligence Bureau safe house in Abbottabad.
Pakistani general Ziauddin Butt said bin Laden had been hidden in Abbottabad by the ISI "with the full knowledge" of General Pervez Musharraf but later denied making any such statement, saying his words were altered by the media, he said: "It is the hobby of the Western media to distort the facts for their own purposes." U.S. military officials have increasingly said they do not notify Pakistani officials before conducting operations against the Afghan Taliban or Al Qaeda, because they fear Pakistani officials may tip them off. International officials have accused the ISI of continuing to support and even lead the Taliban during the 2001-2021 War in Afghanistan. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen stated:
The fact remains that the Quetta Shura and the Haqqani Network operate from Pakistan with impunity ... Extremist organizations serving as proxies of the government of Pakistan are attacking Afghan troops and civilians as well as US soldiers. ... For example, we believe the Haqqani Network—which has long enjoyed the support and protection of the Pakistani government ... is, in many ways, a strategic arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.
The Associated Press reported that "the president said Mullen's statement 'expressed frustration' over the insurgent safe havens in Pakistan. But Obama said 'the intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is.' Obama added that whether Pakistan's ties with the Haqqani network are active or passive, Pakistan has to deal with it."
The Guantanamo Bay files leak showed that the US authorities unofficially consider the ISI a terrorist organization that was equally as dangerous as Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and many allegations of it supporting terrorist activities have been made.
In 2017, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused the ISI of having ties to terror groups. In a Senate hearing, Dunford told members of the U.S. Senate: "It is clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups."
Indian government
India has accused the ISI of plotting the 1993 Bombay bombings. According to the United States diplomatic cables leak, the ISI had previously shared intelligence information with Israel regarding possible terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli sites in India in late 2008. The ISI is also accused of supporting pro independence militias in Jammu and Kashmir while Pakistan denies all such claims, or says it gives them moral support only.
Controversies
The ISI has been accused of using designated terrorist groups and militants to conduct proxy wars against its neighbors. According to Grant Holt and David H. Gray, "The agency specializes in utilizing terrorist organizations as proxies for Pakistani foreign policy, covert action abroad, and controlling domestic politics." James Forest says, "There has been increasing proof from counter-terrorism organizations that militants and the Taliban continue to receive assistance from the ISI, as well as the establishment of camps to train terrorists on Pakistani territory." All external operations are carried out under the supervision of the ISI's S Wing. Joint Intelligence/North is responsible for conducting operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan. The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) provides support with communications to groups in Jammu and Kashmir. According to Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, both former members of the National Security Council, the ISI acted as a "kind of terrorist conveyor belt" radicalizing young men in the Madrassas in Pakistan and delivering them to training camps affiliated with or run by Al-Qaeda and from there moving them into Jammu and Kashmir to launch attacks.
Support for militants
Since the 1990s, the ISI began communicating with the jihadists who emerged from the conflict against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and by 2000 most militant groups operating in Kashmir were based in Pakistan or were pro-Pakistan. These groups are used to conduct a low-intensity conflict against India. According to Stephen P. Cohen and John Wilson, the ISI's aid to and creation of designated terrorist groups and religious extremist groups is well-documented. The ISI has been accused of having close ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who carried out the attacks in Mumbai in 2008. The organisation has also given aid to Hizbul Mujahideen. Terrorism expert Gus Martin said, "The ISI has a long history of supporting designated terrorist groups and pro-Independence groups operating in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir which fight against Indian interests." The ISI also helped with the founding of the group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Hizbul Mujahideen
The group Hizbul Mujahideen was created as the Kashmiri branch of Jamaat-i-Islami. It was reported that JI founded Hizbul Mujahideen at the request of the ISI to counter the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front who are advocates for the independence of Kashmir. The failure of 1987 elections in Kashmir, and afterwards the arrest of Muhammad Yusuf, a.k.a. Syed Salahuddin, led to the events that created armed struggle in the valley.
Al-Badr
There have been three incarnations of Al-Badr. According to Tomsen, the ISI, in conjunction with Jamaat-e-Islami, formed the first Al-Badr, who resisted the Indian-trained influx of Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh in the 1970s.
Al-Qaeda and bin Laden
Main articles: Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–1992) and Soviet–Afghan WarThe ISI supported Al-Qaeda during the war along with the CIA against the Soviet government, through the Taliban, and it is believed by some that there is still contact between Al-Qaeda and the ISI. An assessment by British Intelligence in 2000 into Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan showed the ISI were playing an active role in some of them. In 2002, it was alleged that when the Egyptian investigators tracked down Al-Qaeda member Ahmed Said Khadr in Pakistan, the Egyptian authorities informed Pakistani authorities of his location. However, the Afghan Taliban at night came in a car and took Khadir along with them to Afghanistan. The next day, Pakistani authorities claimed they were unable to capture Khadir. The leak in 2012 of e-mails from Stratfor claimed papers captured during all the compounds during the raid in Abbottabad on Osama bin Laden's compound showed up to 12 ISI officials knew where he was and that Bin Laden had been in regular contact with the ISI.
Despite the allegations, Steve Coll stated that as of 2019 there is no direct evidence showing Pakistani knowledge of bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, even by a rogue or compartmented faction within the government, other than the circumstantial fact of bin Laden's compound being located near (albeit not directly visible from) the Pakistan Military Academy. Documents captured from the Abbottabad compound generally show that bin Laden was wary of contact with ISI and Pakistani police, especially in light of Pakistan's role in the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; it has also been suggested that the $25 million U.S. reward for information leading to bin Laden would have been enticing to Pakistani officers given their reputation for corruption. The compound itself, although unusually tall, was less conspicuous than sometimes envisaged by Americans, given the common local habit of walling off homes for protection against violence or to ensure the privacy of female family members.
Al-Qaeda has repeatedly labelled ISI their enemy, and claimed the Pakistani military and intelligence are their main targets in Pakistan. In 2019, Ayman al-Zawahari labelled ISI and the Pakistani military a "puppet" of the United States in a video message.
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was founded in the 1980s by the ISI to fight against Indian interests.
Jammu and Kashmir
in 1984, under the orders of Zia-ul-Haq, the ISI prepared for a rebellion, which was to be set in motion in 1991.
Haqqani network
The ISI allegedly have links to the Haqqani network and contributed to their funding. It is widely believed the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 was planned with the help of the ISI. A report in 2008 from the US director of National Intelligence stated that the ISI provides intelligence and funding to help with attacks against the International Security Assistance Force, the Afghan government, and Indian targets. On 5 November 2014, Lieutenant-General Joseph Anderson, a senior commander for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that the Haqqani network is now "fractured" like the Taliban in a Pentagon-hosted video briefing from Afghanistan. "They are fractured. They are fractured like the Taliban is. That's based pretty much on Pakistan's operations in North Waziristan this entire summer-fall," he said, acknowledging the effectiveness of Pakistan's military offensive in North Waziristan. "That has very much disrupted their efforts in Afghanistan and has caused them to be less effective in terms of their ability to pull off an attack in Kabul," Anderson added.
Attacks on journalists
Amnesty International published a document concerning the investigation of ISI over the murder of Saleem Shahzad.
Death of Arshad Sharif
Following General Bajwa's retirement, the mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to formally charge General Bajwa, among other military officers, for the "targeted, premeditated, planned and calculated murder" of her son, claiming members of the military's Public Relations division began threatening Sharif after he emerged as a critic of General Bajwa following the success of the vote-of-no-confidence against Imran Khan, particularly in a program called “Woh Kon Tha”, aired on ARY News, in which Sharif insinuated General Bajwa had a hand in overthrowing his democratically elected Prime Minister.
Interference in Judicial Matters
Islamabad High Court Judges Letter
Main article: 2024 IHC judges' letterAljazeera reported that six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accused the ISI of interference in judicial matters, citing abduction, torture, and surveillance. Despite assurances from ISI leadership, these claims persisted, leading to an investigation by the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan. The incident underscored ongoing tensions between Pakistan's judiciary and intelligence agencies, reflecting broader issues of governance and institutional integrity.
Casualties
Since Pakistan launched offensives on Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist groups, the country's armed forces, intelligence services (particularly the ISI), military industrial complexes, paramilitary forces, and police forces have come under intense attacks. The ISI has played a major role in targeting these groups and has faced retaliatory strikes as well. As of 2011, more than 300 ISI officials have been killed. Major incidents when attempts were made to target the ISI include:
- A suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a bus carrying officials killing at least 28 people on 28 November 2007, outside the ISI office in Rawalpindi.
- 30 people, including four ISI officials and 14 policemen, were killed and over 300 were injured when three people attacked the ISI office in Lahore on 27 May 2009. The attackers fired at the ISI office and policemen present there. The guards at the ISI building fought back. During the incident an explosive-laden vehicle detonated.
- At least 13 people and 10 military personnel were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his van at the agency's Peshawar office on 13 November 2009. Around 400 kilograms (880 lb) of explosives were used which destroyed a significant portion of the building.
- Two attackers ambushed the Multan office where eight people were killed and 45 were injured on 8 December 2009. Two army personnel were killed while seven officials were injured. About 800–1,000 kilograms (1,800–2,200 lb) of explosives were used.
- A car bomb exploded at CNG Station in Faisalabad on 8 March 2011, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the nearby ISI office was the target. No losses of ISI personnel were reported, and only one official was injured.
- Three intelligence officials were killed and one was wounded when a vehicle carrying agency personnel was ambushed in FR Bannu on 14 September 2011.
- Four people, including ISI officials, were killed and 35 were injured when the local office of the ISI was attacked by five suicide bombers in Sukkur on 24 July 2013.
See also
- Afghan War documents leak
- Intelligence Bureau (Pakistan)
- Inter Services Public Relations
- Military Intelligence of Pakistan
- Operation Cyclone
- Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism
- Pakistani intelligence community
Citations
- ^ Walsh, Declan (12 May 2011). "Whose side is Pakistan's ISI really on?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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In the 1980s the ISI was instrumental in supporting seven Sunni Muslim mujahideen groups in their jihad against the Soviets and was the principal conduit of covert US and Saudi funding. It subsequently played a pivotal role in the emergence of the Taliban (Coll 2005:292) and Pakistan provided significant political, financial, military and logistical support to the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan (1996–2001)(Rashid 2001).
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Yet ISI's ambition was greater than its purse. Pakistan's army suffered from acute money problems during 1995. The army commanded the lion's share of Pakistan's budget, but with American aid cut over the nuclear issue, there was not much to go around. ... As it had during the 1980s, ISI needed Saudi intelligence, and it needed wealthy Islamist patrons from the Persian Gulf. ... The Pakistanis were advertising the Taliban to the Saudis as an important new force on the Afghan scene. ... The scale of Saudi payments and subsidies to Pakistan's army and intelligence service during the mid-1990s has never been disclosed. Judging by the practices of the previous decade, direct transfers and oil price subsidies to Pakistan's military probably amounted in some years to at least several hundred million dollars. This bilateral support helped ISI build up its proxy jihad forces in both Kashmir and Afghanistan.
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General bibliography
- Gregory, Shaun (2007), "The ISI and the War on Terrorism", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30 (12): 1013–1031, doi:10.1080/10576100701670862, ISSN 1057-610X, S2CID 71331428
Further reading
- Ayub, Muhammad (2005), An Army, Its Role and Rule: A History of the Pakistan Army from Independence to Kargil from 1947–1999, Pittsburgh: RoseDog Books, ISBN 0-8059-9594-3
- Bamford, James (2004), A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies, New York: Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-50672-4
- Coll, Steve (2004), Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to 10 September 2001, New York: Penguin Press, ISBN 1-59420-007-6
- Coll, Steve (2018), Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001–2016, UK: Penguin Press, ISBN 978-1-84614-660-2, OCLC 996422824
- Crile, George (2003), Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, New York: Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-4124-2
- Henderson, Robert D'A (2003), Brassey's International Intelligence Yearbook, Dulles, VA: Brassey's, ISBN 1-57488-550-2
- Jan, Abid Ullah (2006), From BCCI to ISI: The Saga of Entrapment Continues, Ottawa: Pragmatic Publishing, ISBN 0-9733687-6-4
- Kiessling, Hein G. (2016), Faith, Unity, Discipline: The ISI of Pakistan, India: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-93-5177-796-0
- Schneider, Jerrold E.; Chari, P. R.; Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal; Cohen, Stephen Phillip (2003), Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compound Crisis in 1990, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-30797-X
- Todd, Paul; Bloch, Jonathan (2003), Global Intelligence: The World's Secret Services Today, Dhaka: University Press, ISBN 1-84277-113-2
- Yousaf, Mohammad; Adkin, Mark (2001), Afghanistan the Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower, Barnsley: Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-860-7
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