Rawalpindi, Apr 14 (IANS): Pakistan's former army chief, General Mirza Aslam Beg (retd) has denied affiliation with a social media message being falsely attributed to him, terming it fake, media reports said.

In a hard-hitting audio message, Gen Aslam Beg said the campaign being run against him and the current Pakistani army leadership is part of the smear campaign against state institutions, The News reported.

Declaring Pakistan Army his "pride and identity", the former chief of army staff (COAS) said that each and every officer and soldier of the armed forces deserves his unqualified respect.

Beg dubbed the propaganda against the army as against decency and ethics and ended his message, saying as long as he lives, he would continue to speak in support of the Pakistan Army, Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) also issued a brief statement to reject the audio clip circulating on social media.

"The audio clip attributed to ex-COAS General Mirza Aslam Beg (retired) being circulated on social media is fake. It is part of a disinformation and propaganda campaign to target state institutions," the military's media wing stated.

Earlier, Major Gen Ejaz Awan (retd) and Lt General Haroon Aslam (retd) had also rejected messages under circulation in social media attributed to them.