Soldier advancement: Three new lieutenant generals named

These officers will fill several key positions that fell vacant recently.

ISLAMABAD:

In an unexpected development following the recent change of command, three major generals of Pakistan Army were promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on Friday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), those who were promoted to the rank of lieutenant general include Major General Muhammad Zahid Latif Mirza, Major General Ikramul Haq and Major General Obaidullah Khan Khattak.

General Obaid was serving as inspector general of the Frontier Corps in Balochistan while General Latif and General Ikramul Haq were serving at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

These promotions were due after several key positions stood vacant in the army in the wake of the recent retirement of former army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Military sources told The Express Tribune that the army chief General Raheel Sharif was expected to soon appoint Inspector General Training and Evaluation, a position he himself was occupying before his appointment for the top slot and Chief of Logistics, which stood vacant after Lt General Haroon Aslam resigned after he was superseded.

The slot for the corps commander of Bahawalpur, too, lies vacant. The outgoing corps commander Bahawalpur Lt General Zubair Mahmood Hayat was recently appointed as the Director General Strategic Plans Division.

General Zubair will replace Lt General (retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, who served as the head of the country’s most sensitive nuclear body since its inception back in 1999.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2013.