Pak Army chief Asim Munir joins last rites of major tied to Abhinandan's capture
Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir attended the funeral of Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, the officer who had earlier claimed responsibility for capturing Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman following the 2019 aerial dogfight that occurred after India's Balakot air strike in response to the Pulwama terror attack. Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir(AP)
The 37-year-old officer was killed during a clash with Taliban militants in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan, located near the Afghan border, on Tuesday.
His funeral was held in his hometown at Chaklala Garrison in Rawalpindi. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed Munir's presence at the ceremony.
'Major Syed Moiz Abbas fought bravely in the face of resistance and ultimately laid down his life in the line of duty, upholding the highest traditions of bravery, sacrifice, and patriotism,' the ISPR statement quoted the army chief as saying.
The major was buried with full military honours, the statement added. Major Shah commissioned into Pakistani Army in 2011
Commissioned into the Pakistan Army in 2011, Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah later joined the elite Special Services Group (SSG) and was deployed in the volatile Waziristan region at the time of his death.
Following his killing, local media reports identified him as the same officer who had captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman in 2019 and shielded him from a mob after his aircraft went down during a post-Balakot air clash.
A resurfaced video from his earlier interview with Geo TV, where he appeared as a captain, shows Moiz recounting how he captured Abhinandan. The clip has been widely shared on social media since his death.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, emerged in 2007 as a coalition of various militant factions. Its stated goal is to enforce a rigid version of Islam across the country.
The TTP, which Pakistan considers to be closely aligned with al-Qaeda, has been linked to numerous deadly attacks, including the 2008 bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, assaults on military installations, and the 2009 attack on army headquarters.
Pakistan refers to the TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij", referencing a historical group associated with rebellion and violence in early Islamic history.
(With PTI inputs)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Narendra Modi says Amarnath Yatra to start on 3 July, hails India's social sector schemes
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the Amarnath Yatra, the annual Hindu pilgrimage in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, will begin on 3 July. Devotees of Lord Shiva travel to the Amarnath Temple shrine located near Pahalgam, where Pakistan-sponsored terrorists massacred 26 tourists on 22 April, prompting India to launch Operation Sindoor—air strikes to destroy terror infrastructure in the Islamic nation. In his monthly radio address 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi extended his best wishes to those who were going on pilgrimages such as the Amarnath Yatra and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. "I also commend those who are engaged in making these Yatras successful and safe with a spirit of service," he said. He also hailed India's various social security schemes, which together covered 950 million people in 2025, compared to about 250 million a decade ago. Citing a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, Modi said that 64% of India's population was "definitely availing of some social protection benefit or the other". India's social sector welfare and protection schemes include the public distribution system which provides subsidized foodgrains to poor citizens. Under the PM Awaas Yojana (PMAY), the government provides ₹ 1.2 lakh in plain areas and ₹ 1.3 lakh in hilly areas for assistance in housing. Similarly, the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) provides health coverage of ₹ 5 lakh per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization free of cost. The Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is an essential social welfare initiative aimed at ensuring food security for the most vulnerable segments of society. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was launched with the specific purpose of ameliorating the hardships faced by the poor and needy due to economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country in 2020. The free-foodgrain scheme has been extended till the end of 2028, and benefits more than 800 million Indians. He also said that the people of Vietnam had sent messages of gratitude to India for taking the relics of Lord Buddha found in Andhra Pradesh to the southeast Asian country. The president of Vietnam, deputy prime minister, and senior ministers visited one of the nine locations where the Buddha statues were kept, and around 15% of Vietnam's total population had visited these sites, said Modi. "Originally these sacred relics of Bhagwan Buddha were discovered at Nagarjunakonda of Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh. This place has a deep connection with Buddhism. It is said that once upon a time, people from far-off places including Sri Lanka and China used to come to this place," he said, adding that earlier, these relics were also taken to Thailand and Mongolia. The prime minister also urged citizens to reduce the consumption of oil in food to reduce obesity in the country. Modi said the Eri Silk, a unique sort of cruelty-free silk produced in Meghalaya, has received a geographical identification tag a few days ago. "Nowadays, the demand for such products is rising rapidly in the world, which do not involve violence and do not have any ill-effect on nature, hence, Eri Silk of Meghalaya is a perfect product for the global market," he said. He also noted the work done by several self-help groups across the country. Modi, who will embark on a 5-nation tour on 2 July to attend the Brics summit in Brazil, also appreciated local efforts in Gujarat and Maharashtra regarding conservation of the environment. Ahmedabad's municipal commission has started afforestation efforts and set a target to plant a million trees. "A special aspect about this campaign is 'Sindoor Van'. This forest is dedicated to the bravehearts of Operation Sindoor. Sindoor saplings are being planted in the memory of those brave people who have sacrificed everything for the country," he said. He also said the efforts to become to a carbon-neutral village by the Patoda Gram Panchayat in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district in Maharashtra were noteworthy. The village practices collecting garbage from each house, treating dirty water before it reaches the river, and performing last rites with cow dung cakes and planting a tree in the name of every deceased person using the ash, according to Modi. In Hindu religious practices, last-rite rituals involve the deceased person's body being burned on a wooden pyre. Speaking about group captain Shubhanshu Shukla's space flight to the International Space Station, Modi said, "India has scripted a new history." He also added that the next 'Mann Ki Baat' address will discuss this mission.
The Wire
an hour ago
- The Wire
The Life of MI6's Forgotten Master Spy
Tim Willasey-Wilsey's The Spy and The Devi l is an incredible story of a British 'master spy' who gained direct access to Adolf Hitler in 1931 through Alfred Rosenberg, a Baltic-German theorist, who headed the Nazi party's foreign office (NSDAP) from 1933-1945. It recreates the post-World War I Europe, dominated by intrigues, treachery and predatory redrawing of borders through land grabbing. The story has shades of John Le Carre's enthralling drama, chronological clarity through assiduous research and a message on how governments should utilise intelligence services. Willasey-Wilsey, CMG, a former British diplomat, is currently Visiting Professor of War Studies at King's College, London and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). He spent three years researching for this book. The author admits that some books had already acknowledged the spy's contributions, like professor Keith Jeffery's authorised MI6 history, The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909–1949. Yet, not everything was revealed about how this 'important and courageous secret agent' operated at a time when the British government was divided over a coherent policy towards Nazi Germany. Also, in 1934, the agency 'saw Germany as a potential ally in the more important battle against Bolshevik Russia'. It was this spy who helped 'MI6's evolution from being a service providing low-level tactical information to the strategic organisation' for the British government. That was in 1938, when MI-6 chief Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair consulted the spy when Sir Alexander Cadogan, Permanent Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, requested the agency to draft a strategic paper 'What should we do?' to deal with Hitler. The spy was Baron Wilhelm Sylvester von der Ropp, or Bill de Ropp, code number 12821, a Baltic-German from Lithuania, who 'lived in the heart of Berlin under the noses of the three main German security services – the Gestapo, the Abwehr and the SD'. Yet, as Jeffery said, at least 70% of the political intelligence on Hitler's Germany was provided by him. Ropp studied in Birmingham University, became a British citizen in 1914. He joined the British army's Air Intelligence team (propaganda & interrogations) under press baron Lord Northcliffe due to his linguistic flair. Ropp came in touch with MI6 as part of his work with Northcliffe and moved to 'Occupied Germany' in 1919, where he worked in the weekly reporting section. After that job ended, MI-6 employed him for covering the Baltic States under cover as a Daily Mail journalist, courtesy Lord Northcliffe. Meanwhile, he got married to Marie Winifred Woodman, known as Jimmy, who helped him in his 'real' work. MI-6 reappointed him to Berlin where he started writing for Outlook magazine edited by John Balderston, an American. At the end of November 1926, Ropp published an article on 'Airships' in Outlook. 'Little did he realise that he would be discussing these very issues with Adolf Hitler himself only four years later." Very soon, he became their Berlin correspondent. The author said that his first piece on 'Germany inside the League' following Berlin's entry to the League of Nations in Geneva demonstrated his ability as a 'political analyst as well as his excellent written English.' In 1926, Ropp became a representative in Germany for the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used by MI-6's 'Air Section' led by F.W. Winterbotham, the 'Ultra' intelligence specialist. This facilitated achieving a three-fold object: 'selling Bristol engines for civil aircraft, watching out for the potential military use of civil aviation, and tracking the expansion of Russo-German relations since the Rapallo Treaty of 1922'. Ropp's reputation in Berlin as an expert on Anglo-German relations stabilised in this capacity. However, MI-6 was still not convinced that Germany was their prime concern even in 1930. Here the master spy became a catalyst to convince his bosses in London. The author quotes Ropp's post-retirement article in Daily Mail in October 1957, out of a series of five, permitted by MI-6: 'I should make friends with Hitler while he was no more than the leader of a minority, if boisterous, party and stay with him as his friend if he rose to power'. For this he adopted, as the author described in Chapter 11, a 'crab-like' approach to Hitler in five stages: First, he tapped Baron Walter von Medem, whom he had met in 1919 while recapturing Riga from the Bolshevik forces. Medem was a member of the Right Wing Stahlhelm (The Steel Helmet) of German war veterans. Medem introduced him to Major Hans Berthold, also of Stahlhelm, who in turn introduced him to Arno Schickedanz, a fellow Balt from Riga, who was the Berlin correspondent of the Nazis' influential newspaper Völkischer Beobachter (VB). Schickedanz suggested that Ropp should meet his boss, Alfred Rosenberg, who was the editor of VB. They got along well: 'In Bill de Ropp he found someone who was prepared to listen. He may never have realised that Bill only took an interest because he was being paid by MI6 to obtain intelligence'. Also, for long, Rosenberg had believed that Great Britain was a natural ally of Nazi Germany. Bill de Ropp allowed him to believe in that and 'kept it alive in Rosenberg's consciousness for many years to come'. The author describes how Ropp met Hitler in VB's office at Schellingstrasse, Munich in 1931: 'He [Hitler] was dressed in an old trench-coat and an ill-fitting 'reach me down suit'. Hitler did not waste time with any formalities but plunged into his first question: 'What do the English think about my movement?'' Ropp worked on that to continue conversations with Hitler and Rosenberg. Hitler told him in his second meeting: 'If you could keep me informed of what, in your opinion, the English really think, you will not only render me a service, but it would be to the advantage of your country.' Both Hitler and Rosenberg thought that Ropp was spying on England for them. Ropp felt that Hitler was not very insightful. In his last meeting, he told Ropp, quoting Ribbentrop, that 'the British won't fight' as they would not get 'the backing of Australia, Canada or South Africa and their youth is too decadent and pacifist'. The author did not know how often Hitler and Bill de Ropp met over the next eight years 'although there is evidence of at least a dozen meetings'. Ropp and Jimmy finally left Berlin on August 29, 1939, just three days before the Nazi tanks entered Poland. From Rosenberg's diaries, the author felt that his correspondence with Ropp came to an end on 3 March 1940. At the end of the War, MI-6 terminated Ropp's services and paid a paltry final gratuity of £500. The 'Master Spy' passed away at the age of 87 on October 3, 1973 at Kingswood Hall, a care home at Kington near Peterchurch. 'There was no funeral and there were no letters from the MI6 officers who had known him so well. There are strict rules preventing contact between retired officers and their agents'. In the final chapter, the author assesses the importance of Ropp. 'Without him 'What Should We Do?' could not have been written and MI6 might have remained a source of low-level tactical information rather than the global geopolitical service that it is today'.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Operation Sindoor: Congress renews 'India lost jets' claim, says 'Modi government compromised national security'
NEW DELHI: Congress on Sunday latched on to the remarks of Captain Shiv Kumar to rake up its attack on the government, accusing it of failing to disclose aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor . In a social media post on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera cited India's defence attaché to Indonesia and claimed that "Indian Air Force lost fighter jets to Pakistan only because of the constraint given by the political leadership. " "In another shocking revelation by Capt. Shiv Kumar, it has emerged that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets to Pakistan on the night of May 7, 2025, during its targeting of Pakistan's terror-linked sites — only because of the constraint given by the political leadership," Khera said. "This is a direct indictment of the Modi government, particularly defence minister Rajnath Singh. No wonder they are ducking our demand for a Special Session of Parliament like the plague. They know they've compromised national security, and they're terrified of what the Congress Party will expose before the people of India," he added. This comes after India's defence attaché to Indonesia, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar, reportedly said that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets to Pakistan on the night of May 7 during its targeting of Pakistan's terror-linked sites. Shiv Kumar said that even though he 'may not agree that we lost so many aircraft, I do agree we did lose some aircraft.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Adidas Three Shorts With 60% Discount, Limited Stock Available Original Adidas Shop Now Undo Earlier, Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces General Anil Chauhan categorically rejected Pakistan's claims that it had shot down six Indian warplanes during Operation Sindoor, calling the information "absolutely incorrect." The CDS added that "what is important is not the jet being downed, but why they were being downed." "The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistake we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days — and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range," General Chauhan said during an interview with Bloomberg TV when asked about Pakistan's claims. "What is important is not the jet being downed, but why they were downed," the CDS said, adding: "Why they were downed, what mistakes were made — those are important... Numbers are not important." Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
