He is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing crucial information and technical expertise to the terror group al-Qaeda, Indian officials have disclosed.
Lt Gen Chaudhry, a three-star general, has been briefing the press in his capacity as the chief of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) since India conducted intelligence-based strikes at nine terror camps, including the headquarters of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, to avenge the fatal attack on 26 people, mainly tourists, in Pahalgam on April 22.
As per the United Nations documents, Chaudhry’s father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, was known to have met the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Born in Amritsar, Mahmood allegedly provided insights into the infrastructure necessary for a nuclear weapons programme as well as the effects associated with nuclear weapons.
He was also accused of raising funds for a fundamentalist organisation, Ummah Tameer-e-Nau, founded in 1999 to support humanitarian causes in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan before the US invasion in 2001.
Mahmood, who retired from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, has authored several books on the intersection of religion and science, including “Mechanics of the Doomsday and Life after Death”, in which he reflects on the ultimate fate of the universe from an Islamic perspective.
Currently 85, Mahmood lives in Islamabad.
He was arrested in 2001 after reportedly admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden, but was later released when authorities concluded that he lacked the technical knowledge to transfer nuclear secrets.
His name also figures in the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons list of the US Treasury department.
Lt Gen Chaudhry was appointed as the Director General of ISPR by Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir in December 2022.
He was the first officer from the Pakistan Army’s Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to rise to this position.
He previously held significant roles, including the director general of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO), a clandestine military research entity, besides working in military operations.
The Ummah Tameer-e-Nau, which was banned and sanctioned by the US in 2001, had ties to several notable figures in Pakistan, including the controversial former director general of ISI, Lt Gen Hamid Gul. PTI ACB SKL ARI
