Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) intelligence agency of Pakistan allegedly ran an active military intelligence program during the Bosnian War which started in 1992 lasting until 1995. Allegedly executed and supervised by General Javed Nasir, the program distributed and coordinated the systematic supply of arms to ARBiH during the war. The ISI Bosnian contingent was organized with financial assistance provided by Saudi Arabia, according to the British historian Mark Curtis.[1]

Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Part of Bosnian War
Operational scopeStrategic and Tactical
Location
Former Yugoslavia
ObjectiveOperational
Date1992—1995

Pakistan declared in a meeting of Muslim countries at Geneva in July 1995 that the UN arms embargo was illegal. Farooq Leghari, then president of Pakistan, stated that 'the Western policy of appeasement of the Serbian aggressors is not going to pay.' Pakistan subsequently declared that it would provide weapons to the Bosnian government in spite of the UN arms embargo. Pakistan became the fourth largest contributor of troops to the UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and pledged to keep its soldiers there to protect Bosnian Muslims and confront the Serbs while France and other countries wanted to withdraw their troops for the safety of their soldiers.[2][3]

Nasir later confessed that, despite the UN arms embargo in Bosnia, the ISI airlifted anti-tank weapons and missiles to ARBiH which turned the tide in favor of Bosniaks and forced the Serbs to lift the siege.[4][5][6][7][8] In 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia demanded the custody of the former ISI director for his alleged support to forces of the Bosnian government against the Army of Republika Srpska in the 1990s, the Government of Pakistan has refused to hand Nasir to the UN tribunal, citing poor health.[9]

During the height of the conflict, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry evacuated many endangered Bosnians from the conflict areas who immigrated to Pakistan. The small nature of the program was mentioned and highlighted in the Pakistani drama, Alpha Bravo Charlie in 1998. Since then, foreign relations have improved between Pakistan and Bosnia.

See also

References
  1. Curtis, Mark (26 May 2011). Secret Affairs Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam (New updated ed.). London: Profile. ISBN 978-1847653017.
  2. "Pakistan sends more troops to Bosnia". UPI. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  3. "Pakistan says it will stay in Bosnia". UPI. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  4. Wiebes, Cees (2003). Intelligence and the War in Bosnia, 1992–1995: Volume 1 of Studies in intelligence history. LIT Verlag. p. 195. ISBN 978-3-8258-6347-0. Pakistan definitely defied the United Nations ban on supply of arms to the Bosnian Muslims and sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles were airlifted by the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, to help Bosnians fight the Serbs.
  5. Abbas, Hassan (2015). Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, the Army, and America's War on Terror. Routledge. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-317-46328-3. Javed Nasir confesses that despite the U.N. ban on supplying arms to the besieged Bosnians, he successfully airlifted sophisticated antitank guided missiles which turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege. Under his leadership the ISI also got involved in supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang Province, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia.
  6. Schindler, John R. Unholy Terror. Zenith Imprint. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-61673-964-5. Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, the supporters of the Afghan Mujahidin in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s, violated the UN embargo and provided Bosnian Muslims with sophisticated antitank guided missiles.
  7. "Pak defied UN, supplied arms to Bosnia". Press Trust of India. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  8. "Javed Nasir". ISI Directorship. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  9. Butt, Qaiser (20 September 2011). "Islamabad refuses to hand over ex-ISI chief to Bosnia tribunal". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 21 May 2013.

External research
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