Military and Intelligence Career
Abbasi was commissioned into the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army around 1963. As a Captain in the army, he was appointed the adjutant of Cadet College Petaro in 1966. He served in that position until 1969. In 1972, he got married to Shahida Zaheer, daughter of A.A. Shaikh, who was one of the senior teachers at Cadet College Petaro. Abbasi has four children – two sons and two daughters.
Abbasi participated in the 1971 war against India from the western front. His overall performance was rated very high and he rose up through the ranks to become a brigadier-general by the mid-1980s.Abbasi remained a part of the military establishment as long as he was in service with no links to any political or religious groups as per the tradition of the army which remained secular in nature against the will of the people of Pakistan.
Abbasi worked as an intelligence and military officer in liaison with Afghan Mujahideen resisting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1980–1986). In 1987–1988, Brigadier Abbasi also served as the Military Attaché at the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi, India. Both India and Pakistan have brigadiers in the position of Military Attaché in their respective embassies. On December 1, 1988 New Delhi police arrested Abbasi in a meeting with an alleged Indian contact. As no information or documents could be obtained from him, the Indian government was forced to release him within hours, chose to declare him persona non grata and expelled him from India.
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