Brigadier Muhammad Aslam Khan (1918–1994) was a Pakistani military officer, who led the Gilgit Scouts and Azad rebels in the First Kashmir War. Using the nom de guerre of 'Colonel Pasha', he organised a force of 1200 rebels and local recruits in Gilgit, and led an attack on the Indian Army and the State Forces from the north, conquering Skardu and Kargil and advancing within 30 miles of Leh. Even though the Indian Army eventually repulsed the attack beyond Kargil, Skardu remained part of the rebel territory, coming under Pakistani control at the end of the war.

The Gilgit Scouts were a paramilitary force within the Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan. They were raised by the British Raj in 1913, on behalf of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, to police the Gilgit Agency, which formed the northern frontier of British India. The force was composed of local men recruited by British commanders.