Indian media outlets aired a fake letter and advisory adding to the false claim that thousands of soldiers in the Pakistan Army put in their resignations following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025.
BOOM found several discrepancies in the documents including spelling errors and incorrect designations showing that it was not an official and a real letter.
Tensions have been on the rise between India and Pakistan after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people. India has accused Pakistan of firing across the Line of Control in Kashmir for the past five days adding that its forces responded in a “measured” but “effective” manner while retaliating to “unprovoked small arms fire.”
The first letter dated April 26, 2025 is addressed to Asim Munir, Chief of Army staff and purportedly written by a Lieutenant General Omer Ahmed Bokhari, commander of Xi Corps. The letter claims, a 'mutiny has taken place within the armed forces over the past 48 hours'. In this letter, Lieutenant Gen. Bokhari reports a surge in resignations in the Pakistan army claiming that 250 officers and 1,200 enlisted personnel have resigned across multiple corps due to stress, family pressure, and uncertainty amid rising tensions with India, calling for urgent intervention to stabilise troop morale and readiness.
Outlets including The Economic Times, Zee News, Jagran, News18, India.com, The Daily Guardian, and Republic Bharat aired shows on the letter, claiming there were mass resignations in the Pakistan Army following Pahalgam.
Aditya Raj Kaul, Executive Editor at TV9 Network, also shared it on his X handle.
The second document is addressed to 'All Ranks, Pakistan Armed Forces' from a Major General Faisal Mehmood Malik, HI (M), DGISPR (Director General Inter-Services Public Relations)
This letter purportedly from Pakistan’s military headquarters addresses fears of war with India following the Pahalgam attack and warns its soldiers against desertion reminding them of action under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952. The letter goes on to claim responsibility for Pahalgam attack stating, 'this incident done by our Mujahideen.'
It also references “Operation Swift Retort,” during which, on February 27, 2019, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) claimed to have shot down two Indian fighter jets that had allegedly violated Pakistani airspace. Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was captured after his aircraft was downed and was later returned to India.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral documents are fake.
We did not find any verified reports - in international and domestic media - quoting any Pakistan Army officials about such letters. The same was for any reporting about soldiers at such a mass scale requesting to leave the Pakistan Army, as would have been the case if the letters were real.
BOOM then analysed the viral letters and found several discrepancies which show that they are likely fake and issued by any official channel.
Letter By Major General Faisal Mehmood Malik
The first letter incorrectly identifies Major General Faisal Mehmood Malik as the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a position currently held by Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
This can be confirmed from the Pakistan DGISPR's official X handle where the bio reads, "Spokesperson Pakistan Armed Forces. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry since 6 December 2022."
BOOM also emailed the address but the mail bounced back as the domain pakarmy.mil.pk was not found.
The word ‘Zindabad’ is misspelt as ‘Jinabad’. Also, the signature is placed in a box with distinct edges, which appears to have been inserted into the document with one of the alphabets abruptly cut out at the bottom.
We also found a fact check by Pakistani news outlet Dawn where they debunked the letter, adding that there were no officials records for a Pakistani military officer by the name of Major General Faisal Mehmood Malik.
Letter to Asim Munir By Bokhari
In the second letter we noticed that the address format is incorrect as the first letter of the words like commander, headquarters and Peshawar are not in title case, as would be written in any official document.
Additionally, the official name of corps is XI corps not 'Xi' as spelt in the viral letter.
BOOM also reached out to Pakistani multimedia journalist Shiraz Hassan who confirmed that both the documents are fake. Hassan also pointed similar inconsistencies in the letter and confirming that the designation of DG ISPR was currently held by Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
Additionally, the over all tone of the two letters does not fit an official missive.
