The Directorate-General for Military Intelligence ( ur, ), known as "Military Intelligence" (MI), is an administrative intelligence branch of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. It is headquartered at the Army GHQ in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Unlike the

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) 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 ...

(ISI), the MI is composed entirely of uniformed army officials, supported by civilians, whose primary mission is to determine the military capability of, and any other information related to, the military forces of hostile countries. It is also tasked with gathering offensive counter-insurgency intelligence, identifying and eliminating sleeper cells, foreign agents and other anti-state elements within Pakistan, including investigation of military espionage.

Historical overview

The agency (MI) was created by Major General Robert Cawthom, who also served as its first Director. Cawthom later established the ISI Directorate in the 1950s. Prior to the successful imposition of the coup d'état against the government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Major General (retired)

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakis ...

, the MI's Director General Major General

Syed Shahid Hamid Major General Syed Shahid Hamid ( ur, ) HJ (17 September 1910 – 12 March 1993) was a two-star general in the Pakistan Army, and a close associate of President Ayub Khan. Hamid was the first Master General of Ordnance (MGO) of the Pakist ...

reported to the then Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

. The MI reported that

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was promulgated in the entire country, both East-Pakistan and West-Pakistan. In the 1980s, MI's activities included operations in Sindh against the

Pakistan Communist Party The Pakistan Communist Party was a short-lived splinter group of the Communist Party of India, existing for three weeks in the summer of 1947. The party was founded by Teja Singh Swatantar and Fazal Elahi Qurban. The party had a provisional pol ...

(CPP) and Indian intelligence operatives. The MI was also active during the

Kargil war The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

, where Major General Jamshed Gulzar Kiani led a series of intelligence-based operations against the enemy. However, the MI staged another coup d'état against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The MI played a significant and integral role in bringing General

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army and

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, D ...

, to political power.

Organization

The MI works in coordination with Air Intelligence (AI) of the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

and Naval Intelligence (NI) of the (

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English language, English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Quran, Qur'an, Al Imran, 3:173' ...

). It reports to the DG MI. All the appointed officers and enlisted personnel are from the Army. MI is one of the five main intelligence services in Pakistan. It is tasked with monitoring the military capabilities of its adversaries, counter-espionage operations, identifying and eliminating sleeper cells and foreign agents; the MI also keeps a close eye on the activities of officers within the

. The MI is headed by a Pakistan Army

two-star general An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

, Major General.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Intelligence Of Pakistan Pakistani intelligence agencies

Military units and formations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Pakistan Government agencies established in 1948 M

Historical overview

Organization

See also

References