New Delhi, May 10 — Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the current spokesperson of the Pakistan Army, is facing increased scrutiny over his family’s links to terrorism, as Indian officials reveal details about his father’s controversial past.
Lt Gen Chaudhry, a three-star general and chief of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has been the public face of the Pakistan military since India launched retaliatory intelligence-based strikes on nine terror camps. These included key facilities of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.
Father’s Ties with Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden
Chaudhry’s father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, was a nuclear scientist once employed by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. According to United Nations records and Indian intelligence, Mahmood had a known association with Osama bin Laden and was involved in providing insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and their after-effects.Mahmood, now 85 and residing in Islamabad, was detained in 2001 after admitting to meeting bin Laden. Although later released due to a reported lack of technical capability to transfer nuclear secrets, his name remains on the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons list. He was also sanctioned by both the UN and US for aiding al-Qaeda.
Links to Extremist Organizations
Mahmood co-founded Ummah Tameer-e-Nau in 1999, ostensibly a humanitarian organisation operating in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. However, it was later banned and sanctioned by the US for its ties to terrorism. The organisation was also reportedly linked to senior Pakistani military officials, including former ISI chief Lt Gen Hamid Gul.Mahmood authored several books that attempt to merge Islamic theology with scientific theories, including Mechanics of the Doomsday and Life after Death, where he theorized about the universe's fate from an Islamic viewpoint.
Lt Gen Chaudhry's Military Profile
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry was appointed as ISPR chief in December 2022 by Army Chief General Asim Munir. He made history as the first officer from the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to hold this post.Before his current role, Chaudhry served as the Director General of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO), a secretive military R&D institution, and had significant involvement in military operations.
Despite the current controversy surrounding his family background, Lt Gen Chaudhry remains a key figure in Pakistan’s military communication and public affairs strategy during escalating tensions with India.