.png)
ISI
The Directorate General for Inter-Services Intelligence or Inter-Services Intelligence (abbreviated ISI, Urdu: آئی ایس آئی) is the premier intelligence service of Pakistan, operationally responsible for providing critical national security and intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan. The ISI is the largest of the five intelligence services of Pakistan, the others being the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI), Naval Intelligence (NI) and Air Intelligence (AI). In the late 20th century, the ISI's work and activities in relation to Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War in then-communist Afghanistan became quite famous. During this war, ISI worked in close coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency; the latter providing strategic support and intelligence to the Afghan Taliban against the Northern Alliance in the civil war in Afghanistan in the 1990s.[2]
The ISI was established as an independent intelligence service in 1948 in order to strengthen the sharing of military intelligence between the three branches of Pakistan Armed Forces in the aftermath of the Indo-Pak War of 1947, which had exposed weaknesses in intelligence gathering, sharing and coordination between the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the agency has been headed by a three-star general officer of the Pakistan Army, being the biggest segment of Pakistan armed forces. The agency includes officers from all three branches of the Pakistan Armed Forces; Pak Army, Pak Air force, Pak Navy and a large number of civilian officers.
The Chief of Army Staff recommends three names of general officers to the prime minister for selection and confirmation of Director General ISI. On 12 December 2016, Lieutenant General Mukhtar was appointed to the post of Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence by the Prime Minister of Pakistan as per set procedure. Mukhtar possesses vast experience in the field of intelligence. Earlier, he had also headed the counterterrorism wing of the ISI in Islamabad.[3] The ISI has headquarters in Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Venue[4]
History[edit]
After independence in 1947, two new intelligence agencies were created in Pakistan: the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Military Intelligence (MI). However, the weak performance of the MI in sharing intelligence between the Army, Naval Intelligence, and Air Force during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 also known as first Kashmir War, led to the creation of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 1948.[5] 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.[5] The ISI was the brainchild of Australian-born ex-Indian Army officer, Major General Sir Walter Joseph Cawthorn, then Deputy Chief of Staff in the Pakistan Army. He selected Colonel Shahid Hamid to set up this new formation and command it. Cawthorn left Pakistan in 1951. Initially, the ISI had no role in the collection of internal intelligence, with the exception of the N.W.F.P and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.[5] The recruitment and expansion of the ISI was managed and undertaken by then-Navy Commander Syed Mohammad Ahsan who was tenuring as Deputy Director of the Naval Intelligence. The Navy's Commander Syed Mohammad Ahsan played a pivotal role in formulating the procedures of the ISI.
Once the Martial Law was promulgated in 1958 all the intelligence agencies came under the direct control of the President and Chief Martial Law Administrator. The maintenance of national Security, which was the principal function of these agencies, came to mean the consolidation of the Ayub regime; any criticism of the regime was seen a threat to national security.[6] The ISI was reorganized in 1966 after intelligence failures in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965,[7] and expanded in 1969.
The ISI lost its importance during the regime of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was very critical of its rôle during the 1970 general elections, which triggered off the events leading to the division of Pakistan and emergence of Bangladesh.[7] After Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq seized power on 5 July 1977 and became the Chief Martial Law Administrator of the country, the ISI was expanded by making it responsible for the collection of intelligence about the Pakistan Communist Party and various political parties such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[7]
The Soviet war in Afghanistan of the 1980s saw the enhancement of the covert action capabilities of the ISI by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A special Afghan Section, the SS Directorate, was created under the command of Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf to oversee the coordination of the war. A number of officers from the ISI's Covert Action Division (Special Activities 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 the Soviet troops by using the Afghan Mujahideen.[citation needed] In September 2001, Parvaiz Musharraf appointed a new Director General for ISI, Lieutenant General Ehsanul Haq who was later on replaced by the Lieut. Gen. Shuja Pasha.[citation needed]
Some analysts believe that the ISI provides support to militant groups, though according to other analysts, these allegations remain unsubstantiated with evidence.[8][9] Under General Javed Nasir's leadership the ISI was involved in supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang Province, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia. Nasir also confessed to assisting the besieged Bosnian Muslims despite the UN arms embargo.[10] National Intelligence Directorate (NID) is formed in 2014 in order to pool and share intelligence gathered by over 30 Pakistan's intelligence agencies to combat terrorism in Pakistan effectively.[11]
Organization[edit]
ISI's headquarters are located in Islamabad, and the head of the ISI is called the Director General, who has to be a serving Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army.[citation needed] 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 counter-intelligence and counter terrorism issues inside Pakistan, External wing – handling external issues, and Analysis and Foreign Relations wing.[12] Reportedly CPEC wing has also been added to monitor anti-project forces in collaboration with the Chinese[citation needed] The project is particularly significant because the port at Gwadar is slated to be a linchpin for a major trade corridor linking northwestern China to the Gulf.[13]
The general staff of the ISI mainly come from armed forces. According to some experts the ISI is the largest intelligence agency in the world in terms of the number of staff. 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.[14]
Departments[edit]
- Responsible for paramilitary and covert operations as well as special activities.[citation needed] Its roles are akin to Special Activities Division of CIA and a handful of officers are trained by the CIA's SAD and active since the 1960s.[15]
- Joint Intelligence X
- coordinates all the other departments in the ISI.[14] 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.
- Joint Intelligence Bureau
- responsible for gathering anti state intelligence and fake drugs, fake currency and TTP .[14]
- Joint Counterintelligence Bureau
Focussed on RAW India
- Joint Intelligence North
- exclusively responsible for the Jammu and Kashmir region and Northern Areas.[14]
- Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous
- responsible for espionage, including offensive intelligence operations, in other countries.[14]
- Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau
- operates intelligence collections along the India-Pakistan border.[14] The JSIB is the ELINT, COMINT, and SIGINT directorate that is charged to divert the attacks from the foreign non-communications electromagnetic radiations emanating from other than nuclear detonations or radioactive sources.[14]
- Joint Intelligence Technical
- deals with development of science and technology to advance the Pakistan intelligence gathering. The directorate is charged to take steps against the electronic warfare attacks in Pakistan.[14] Without any exception, officers from this divisions are reported to be engineer officers and military scientists who deal with the military promotion of science and technology.[14] In addition, there are also separate explosives and a chemical and biological warfare sections.[14]
- SS Directorate'
Mostly comprises of officers from Special services group [ SSG]. It monitors the terrorist groups activities that operate against the state of Pakistan. The SS Directorate is comparable to that of The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Clandestine Service (NCS), and responsible for special operations against terrorists.
0 comments: