ISLAMABAD: A notification claiming that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has been appointed as the South Asian country’s first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) is fake, government officials said on Thursday.
The false claim began circulating across various social media platforms and was also reported by some mainstream media outlets.
Later, addressing a news conference, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the social media notification is fake, adding that the official notification to appoint the Chief of Defence Forces will be issued soon.
Social media posts included what appeared to be an official appointment notification, stating that the President of Pakistan, on the advice of the Prime Minister, had entrusted Field Marshal Munir with the newly created post of CDF with immediate effect.
Government officials, later, clarified that no such appointment has been made. Upon verification, the notification was confirmed to be fake. The purported document even contained forged signatures of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari.
Several reports on social media and by a prominent private news channel had suggested that the government had formally issued the notification, but these reports were based on a fake notification.
Government officials urged citizens and media outlets to rely on verified sources for updates and information.
This incident highlights the continuing spread of misinformation on social platforms in Pakistan, where fake documents and announcements can quickly gain traction before being fact-checked.
