Pakistan's military has disputed India's claim that its military had killed a senior rebel commander in India-administered Kashmir, presenting a man to the media whom India and its news channels had identified as the slain fighter, raising questions over who exactly was killed in the alleged gun battle.
Pakistani Army spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry dismissed the Indian account as fabricated during a televised news conference on Thursday.
The man, whom Chaudhry identified as Mohammad Asif, said he was a former Pakistani soldier who retired in 2023.
It came a day after India's Ministry of Home Affairs said Indian troops had killed a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba commander identified as Musa, also known as Asif Fauji, in an intelligence-led operation in India-administered Kashmir.
The Indian ministry described Wednesday's killing as a major blow to the rebel group, saying he was the last surviving member of a four-man group of commanders responsible for several major attacks in the disputed region since 2022.
"So, here is that superman. You can see this superman. Please, come, my brother. Tell us about these achievements of yours, what all you have been doing," Chaudhry quipped as reporters laughed during the news briefing.
Asif told media that his friends contacted him after seeing Indian media reports of his killing in Kashmir gun battle. "To their concerns, I responded that I was here, alive and healthy," he said.
Asif said he came forward to clarify his identity and expressed surprise that Indian media outlets had displayed what he described as his national identity card while reporting his killing.
"I saw Indian news broadcasts showing my photograph and personal military record, claiming that I had been martyred in Kashmir," the ex-soldier said.
"I was utterly astonished. I was sitting at home, yet they were claiming to have killed me in Kashmir," he added. "By the grace of God, I am alive and present before you."
'No self-respecting nation does this'
Chaudhry said India was fabricating allegations and staging operations to blame Pakistan for rebel violence. "It is a very shameful and embarrassing thing. No self-respecting nation does this," he said.
Chaudhry also accused India of jailing Muslim Kashmiris, saying: "They take them out, kill them, and stage that as a false flag operation, portraying it as a terrorist act."
"This time they went ahead; they said this is not very spicy, let’s take an army soldier of Pakistan and portray him as one that we have killed," he added.
Asked whether the development could trigger another armed conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Sharif said Pakistan’s military was prepared and warned of "very harsh" retaliation.
"If they want to do anything, most welcome," he said. "But let it be clear that this time we will not leave them so easily. This time the cost that Pakistan would inflict on their strategic folly will be very, very severe," Sharif warned.
Pakistan and India have a history of strained relations and have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
The disputed Himalayan region is divided between the two countries, which both claim it in full.
India has deployed over 500,000 troops in the region since 1989 when the popular armed revolt broke against New Delhi's rule.
Most Kashmiris support rebel demands that their territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country in a UN-sponsored right to self-determination vote.
Between 70,000 to 100,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the armed revolt against India's rule.
