Reshuffle: Top military commanders transferred

Maj Gen Sanaullah Niazi’s replacement as GoC Swat announced.

ISLAMABAD:

In a major reshuffle before his retirement, Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Monday, approved several transfers and postings of some of the top military officials.

According to the sources, Lieutenant Gen Naweed Zaman has been appointed as the corps commander, Lahore. He was serving as Military Secretary at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, and will now replace Lt Gen Maqsood Ahmed, who has been selected as Special Representative on International Peacekeeping to the United Nations Secretary General, sources added.

Replacing Gen Zaman at the GHQ will be Lt Gen Mazhar Jameel, who has been appointed as military secretary. He was serving as Commandant of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul.

Lt Gen Khalid Asghar has been appointed as inspector general, communication and information technology. He belongs to army’s Engineering Corps and headed the military’s Operations Directorate. He has been instrumental in shaping the armed forces’ development strategy.

Maj Gen Ahmad Hayat, who has recently been promoted, has been transferred to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) where he will head the spy agency’s analysis wing. Similarly, Maj Gen Javed Mehmood Bokhari has been made General Officer Commanding (GoC), Swat, replacing Maj Gen Sanaullah Niazi (Shaheed), who was killed in a roadside blast on September 15 on his return from the Pak-Afghan border.

Maj Gen Abid Ejaz Kahloon has been appointed as General Officer Commanding (GoC), Okara Division. These transfers at the top of the military hierarchy come at the heels of two crucial changes at the helm of military affairs in the country.

In the first such change, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Khalid Shameem Wynne is set to retire on October 8 and while his successor has not been announced yet, sources suggest that the government may restore the rotation policy for the position.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2013.