Kashmiri hailed from the Mirpur District[1] of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. Kashmiri was reported by some media sources as having served in the Pakistan Army's elite Special Services Group (SSG),[2][11][12] however he denied this in an interview with journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad.[3] Kashmiri also spent a year studying communications at the Allama Iqbal University.[3]