Is Pakistan Army Chief "Missing" After Pahalgam Attack? Social Media Abuzz
Islamabad:
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, reports that Pakistan Army chief General Syed Asim Munir has "fled the country" have sparked hashtags and memes on social media. Source-based reports claim General Munir has gone 'MIA' (missing in action) following New Delhi's diplomatic offensive.
These unconfirmed reports claim that the Pakistan Army Chief has either fled the country with his family or is hiding in a bunker in Rawalpindi, even as the country's political leaders have doubled down on their rhetoric against India.
As the online chatter on Munir's whereabouts gained momentum, the hashtag #MunirOut started trending on the microblogging site platform X, with users on both sides of the border questioning the Pakistan Army Chief's absence in the media in the past few days.
However, as the buzz intensified, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office rushed to clear the air and posted a photo of General Munir with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, attending an event on April 26.
"Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir (NIM) and officers of PMA Kakul in a group photo with the graduating officers of 151st Long Course at PMA Kakul, Abbottabad. April 26, 2025," said the caption.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir (NIM) and officers of PMA Kakul in a group photo with the graduating officers of 151st Long Course at PMA Kakul, Abbottabad.
April 26, 2025. pic.twitter.com/HLmVg9nUwg
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) April 27, 2025
But social media users questioned the timing of the post and the explicit mention of the date in it. One user even called it an "AI-generated false photo" posted to counter speculation over the Army Chief's absence.
India's Actions Against Pakistan
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, India has taken a raft of measures, downgrading diplomatic ties with Pakistan. As intelligence reports reportedly place Pakistan-based groups behind the Pahalgam attack, New Delhi has suspended the Indus Water Treaty of 1960--a historic first-- and revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals. The Wagah-Attari border has also been closed amid a tense relationship between the two nuclear powers.
The terrorist attack, one of the worst in the country in nearly two decades, came days after Gen Asim Munir described Kashmir as Islamabad's "jugular vein".
Addressing the Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad on April 16, he spoke about Kashmir and said, "Our stance is absolutely clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle."
He told a gathering of Pakistanis who are based abroad that they were the country's ambassadors and must not forget that they belong to a "superior ideology and culture".
India has blamed Pakistan for the attack after The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility for it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
Pakistan humiliated again as US MP gives stern warning to Bilawal Bhutto's delegation, says, 'Eliminate terrorism and...'
Pakistan humiliated again as US MP gives stern warning to Bilawal Bhutto's delegation, says, 'Eliminate terrorism and...' Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is leading a team of experts to inform the world about the recent conflict with India, has been facing humiliation throughout his US tour. US lawmaker Brad Sherman gave a strong message to Pakistan and said that it should take decisive action against the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He described this terrorist organization as vile and said that this group is responsible for many heinous crimes including the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. While meeting the Pakistani delegation led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Washington, Sherman said that Pakistan should take all possible steps to completely eliminate this despicable terrorist organization and fight strongly against terrorism in the region. Interestingly, Indian delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is also present in Washington, which is briefed the US officials about 'Operation Sindoor' and the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam. India has blamed Pakistan-backed terrorists for this attack and has reiterated its zero tolerance policy towards cross-border terrorism. Brad Sherman on X said, 'I told the Pakistani delegation the importance of the fight against terrorism, especially against the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which killed Daniel Pearl, a resident of my constituency, in 2002. His family still lives in California. Terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh was convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl.' Role of Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed is declared a banned terrorist organization by the United Nations and is also believed to be responsible for several major attacks in India, including the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which 40 Indian soldiers were martyred. Apart from terrorism, Brad Sherman also expressed concern over the condition of minorities in Pakistan. He said that Christians, Hindus and Ahmadiya Muslims in Pakistan should get complete freedom to follow their faith without fear and participate in the democratic system. Demand for release of Dr. Shakeel Afridi The US lawmaker also demanded the release of Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who allegedly ran a fake polio vaccination campaign to find Osama bin Laden with the help of the CIA, was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to 33 years. Sherman said that the release of Dr. Afridi would be a big step towards justice and closure to the victims of 9/11.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
'No Equivalence With Terrorists': Shashi Tharoor Says Mediation Between India, Pakistan Not Possible
Tharoor said there was no scope for mediation between two unequals, stressing that there was no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has strongly asserted that there was no scope for external mediation between India and Pakistan, saying the two neighbouring countries are not equals, amid repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he 'helped settle" the recent conflict. While speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Thursday, Tharoor, who is leading an all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, said there was no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. 'Mediation is not a term that we are particularly willing to entertain. I'll tell you why not. The fact is that this implies, even when you say things like broker or whatever, you're implying an equivalence which simply doesn't exist," he said at the event. 'There is no equivalence between a country that provides safe haven to terrorism, and a country that's a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business." 'There is no equivalence between a state that is a status quo power that just wants to be left alone by its neighbours, where the neighbours don't agree with us, and a revisionist power that wants to upset the geopolitical arrangements that have existed for the last three-quarters of a century. There is no equivalence possible in these cases, and in these circumstances, to suggest that you can mediate between two unequals is not possible," Tharoor went on to say. Tharoor has repeatedly denied Trump's claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, after tensions flared when India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10. Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a 'full and immediate" ceasefire after a 'long night" of talks mediated by the United States, he has repeated his claim over a dozen times that he 'helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan. During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump against raked up the issue, saying he was 'very proud" to help stop the India-Pakistan conflict. 'I spoke to some very talented people on both sides, very good people on both sides," he said, adding that he warned of cancelling trade deals with both countries if the conflict persisted. 'You know what, I got that war stopped…Now, am I going to get credit? I'm not going to get credit for anything. They don't give me credit for anything. But nobody else could have done it. I stopped it. I was very proud of that," he added. Speaking on the American role in the conflict, Tharoor said he is 'guessing to some degree" that their priority would have been to keep themselves informed, conversations on both sides, and 'certainly my government received a number of calls at high levels from the US government". At the same time, the US must have been making similar calls at the highest levels to the Pakistan side, and 'our assumption is that's where, because that's the side that needed persuading to stop this process," he said. India has been maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. (with PTI inputs) First Published: June 07, 2025, 09:04 IST
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
North Korea internet hit by a major outage, analyst says
North Korea is grappling with a significant internet outage, impacting key websites like its main news outlets and the Foreign Ministry. A UK-based researcher suggests the disruption, affecting all internet routes, appears to be internal rather than a cyberattack. The country's entire internet infrastructure is currently undetectable by monitoring systems, raising questions about the cause. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday, said a UK-based researcher, adding that the cause may be may be internal rather than a cyberattack North Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site were inaccessible on Saturday morning, according to checks by Reuters."A major outage is currently occurring on North Korea's internet - affecting all routes whether they come in via China or Russia," said Junade Ali, a U.K.-based researcher who monitors the North Korean Korea's entire internet infrastructure is not showing up on systems that can monitor internet activities, he said."Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental - but seems like this is internal rather than an attack," he at South Korea 's Police cyber terror response centre which monitors North Korea's cyber activities could not be reached for comment.
