Defence analyst and former three-star general, Lieutenant General (r) Ghulam Mustafa, has said that “Pakistan, with its Shaheen-III missile, is capable to destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in only 12 minutes”.

“It [Shaheen-III] is 18 times faster than the speed of sound,” he said, adding that even on the night of February 27 — when two intruding jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were shot down by Pakistan — Indian media claimed that Islamabad was ready to launch an attack against its enemies.

Mustafa claimed that the United States (US), while fearing that Pakistan would attack Tel Aviv as well, handed over its Air-3 missile to Israel on the night of February 28.

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He said that February 14’s Pulwama attack affected Pakistan in many ways but the attack was “actually planned by India’s premier intelligence agency and Israel”.

“The US was also involved,” he added.

According to a notification issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in April, Mustafa is among the 26 retired officers of the armed forces who are allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

“Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification issued four months ago.