12 Pakistan major generals promoted in massive overhaul of top military brass

In a huge shake-up of the top brass of Pakistan's Army ahead of the change in leadership next month as Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa leaves, 12 major generals were promotedto the rank of lieutenant general.

Major Generals Inam Haider Malik, Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Nauman Zakria, Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, Ayman Bilal Safdar, Ahsan Gulrez, Syed Aamer Raza, Shahid Imtiaz, Mohammad Munir Afsar, Maj General Babar Iftikhar, Yousaf Jamal, and Kashif Nazir are among those promoted, according to ISPR.

It is unusual to see so many people promoted to the position of lieutenant general at once. Although these elevations are typically supposed to be done on the basis of vacancies, the promotions in the Army had been overdue for about a year, reported Dawn newspaper.

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The seats vacated by the retirement of three lieutenant generals in the middle of October 2021, one in July of this year, and five at the end of September would be filled by the 12 newly promoted generals. Lt Gen Majid Ehsan, the former IG Arms, Lt Gen Amir Abbasi, the former QMG, and Lt Gen Hamooduz Zaman Khan, the former Commander of Army Air Defence Command, were among those who had retired a year earlier.

After Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali, the corps commander of Balochistan, was killed in a helicopter crash on August 2 while carrying out flood relief operations, the tenth position became vacant.

To replace the anticipated four-star vacancies caused by the impending retirement of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Nadeem Raza and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, two additional generals have been promoted in advance.

The COAS alone has the authority to promote soldiers at this level. However, it is customary for the chiefs to meet with other top generals informally before making thechoices.

The 12 promoted officers would make up a sizable portion of the team that the new chief would take over in November, making the most recent promotions one of Gen. Bajwa's most important decisions prior to his retirement. The posting of the promoted officers, which GHQ would soon complete, would now be the focus of all attention. A number of significant posts are presently open.

Immediately following his appointment in 2016, Gen. Bajwa had the chance to promote seven major generals, which aided in the formation of his own team. Due to the elevation of two officers to four star ranks and the resignation of four other officers after being replaced, the seven slots had become vacant at that time.

A couple of the recently promoted officers had worked closely with Gen. Bajwa. These officers include DG ISPR Gen Babar Iftikhar, DG Perspective Planning Cell Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar, and Vice Chief of General Staff-A Gen Nauman Zikriya.

(With inputs from agencies)

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