WAR

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; Urdu: بین الخدماتی استخبارات, romanized: bain-al-xidmātī istixbārāt) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant to Pakistan's national security. The ISI reports to its director-general and is primarily focused on providing intelligence to the government of Pakistan.

The ISI primarily consists of serving military officers drawn on secondment from the three service branches of the Pakistan Armed Forces: the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, and Pakistan Air Force, hence the name "Inter-Services"; the agency also recruits civilians. Since 1971, it has been formally headed by a serving three-star general of the Pakistan Army, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in consultation with the Chief of Army Staff, who recommends three officers for the position. As of 30 September 2024, the ISI is headed by Lt. Gen. Asim Malik.^[3] The Director-General reports directly to both the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff.

Relatively unknown outside of Pakistan since its inception, the agency gained global recognition and fame in the 1980s when it backed the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War in the former Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Over the course of the conflict, the ISI worked in close coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States and the Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom to run Operation Cyclone, a program to train and fund the mujahideen in Afghanistan with support from China, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim nations.^[4][5][6]

The ISI has been accused of using designated terrorist groups and militants to conduct proxy wars against its neighbors.^{[162][163][164]} According to Grant Holt and David H. Gray, "The agency specializes in utilizing terrorist organizations as proxies for Pakistani foreign policy, covert action abroad, and controlling domestic politics."^[165] James Forest says, "There has been increasing proof from counter-terrorism organizations that militants and the Taliban continue to receive assistance from the ISI, as well as the establishment of camps to train terrorists on Pakistani territory."^[166] All external operations are carried out under the supervision of the ISI's S Wing.^[167] Joint Intelligence/North is responsible for conducting operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.^[168] The Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau (JSIB) provides support with communications to groups in Jammu and Kashmir.^[168] According to Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, both former members of the National Security Council, the ISI acted as a "kind of terrorist conveyor belt" radicalizing young men in the Madrassas in Pakistan and delivering them to training camps affiliated with or run by Al-Qaeda and from there moving them into Jammu and Kashmir to launch attacks.^[169]

in 1984, under the orders of Zia-ul-Haq, the ISI prepared for a rebellion, which was to be set in motion in 1991.^[190]

The ISI allegedly have links to the Haqqani network^[191] and contributed to their funding.^[192] It is widely believed the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 was planned with the help of the ISI.^[193] A report in 2008 from the US director of National Intelligence stated that the ISI provides intelligence and funding to help with attacks against the International Security Assistance Force, the Afghan government, and Indian targets.^[194]