Days after facing heat over its possible role in an attack on a digital journalist in Islamabad, Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has “disassociated” itself from the incident, reported Dawn. 

Asad Ali Toor, a Pakistani digital journalist and YouTuber, was on Wednesday brutally assaulted by unknown people outside his home in Islamabad. According to his account, the attackers were asking about the source of his funding. Despite the incident recorded on a nearby CCTV camera, police failed to identify or locate his attackers even after four days, raising suspicion of the country’s nefarious spy agency. 

However, as outrage over the attack grew, and various journalist organizations protested, forcing the ISI to release a statement through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday. . 

Referring to the incident “alleged attack”, the spy agency said, “Such continued allegations against ISI show that the ISI is being a target of the fifth generation war under an organized conspiracy.”

It further said, “The ISI believes that when the alleged attackers can clearly be identified in the CCTV footages then the investigation should proceed against them and stern action should be taken against those responsible for it.”

Pakistan’s information ministry has also directed Islamabad Police to investigate the incident. 

The ISI in Pakistan isn’t only tasked to collect intelligence. For years, it has suppressed any narrative or free voice that runs counter to the agency’s own version- by threatening, harassing, attacking, and in some cases eliminating journalists. 

The country has the biggest number of people gone missing, mostly in its tribal belt. Years of protests, demanding independent commissions to investigate missing people cases, have failed to bring any changes. 

(SAM)