Al-Qaeda alleges retired Pakistani general had militant links, died in 2018

Lt. General Shahid Aziz (C) walks with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchauan (L) and others upon his arrival at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on March 25, 2004. (AFP/File)

• Former general Shahid Aziz’s voluntary disappearance in 2016 has been mired in mystery
• Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was formed in 2014 after an announcement by Ayman Al-Zawahiri

PESHAWAR: A magazine published by a regional branch of Al Qaeda said that retired Pakistani General Shahid Aziz-- whose voluntary disappearance in 2016 has been mired in mystery-- had died some years ago in its February edition, while alleging he had close ties with the militant organization. 
Aziz, formerly a top general in the country, retired in 2005 after serving with the Pakistan army for 37 years. While Pervez Musharraf was military chief, Aziz was promoted to director general of military operations among other key posts. After his retirement, Aziz authored a book in 2013 that criticized the policies of the former army chief.
When rumors of his disappearance and death began circulating widely in 2018, Aziz’s relatives rejected widespread reports that claimed he had died fighting alongside anti-American forces in Afghanistan or Syria. Aziz’s son denounced the reports in an interview to Voice of America, and said the General lived a ‘very private life’ of religious preaching.
Reports of his death have never been confirmed, with the latest claim by Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent’s (AQIS) Urdu language magazine, ‘Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad,’ (Voice of Afghan Jihad) the most recent in a series of rumored accounts over the last two years.
AQIS was formed by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri in 2014, and aims to fight the governments of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It has attempted to posture itself as a rival group to Daesh in the region, but has met with little success in inciting attacks. Last year, Afghanistan announced it had killed the group’s leader in a joint US-Afghan military raid in Helmand province.
The February edition of the AQIS magazine also claimed Aziz had close ties with members of the militant organization and that the former general wrote a damning, never-before-seen manuscript for a book which was sent to AQIS in 2015, and would be published in the Urdu magazine in the coming months.
Saleem Mehsud, a senior journalist, told Arab News: “For the first time, an organization has stated that Aziz had any sort of contacts with any entity, and now the magazine will publish his alleged articles from his book, which is expected to make startling revelations.”