Naveed Mukhtar named ISI chief

Nine top-level postings announced; DG ISPR Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa appointed IG Arms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army on Sunday announced a new set of top-level transfers, appointing the Karachi corps commander, among others, as the military’s new spymaster.

“Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar has been transferred and posted as director general (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a notification. He replaces Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, who in turn has been appointed as the president of the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad, the military’s media wing added.

The army also transferred DG ISPR Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, appointing him Inspector General (IG) Arms at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. Lt Gen Bajwa has served as the military’s top spokesman since June 2012.



A total of nine transfers were notified on Sunday. The announcement comes two days after army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa promoted seven major generals to the rank of lieutenant general.

Sunday’s transfers included the appointment of DG Rangers Sindh Lt Gen Bilal Akbar as the Chief of General Staff (CGS). Lt Gen Akbar was among the generals promoted on Friday.



Meanwhile, incumbent NDU President Lt Gen Nazir Butt has been appointed Commander 11 Corps, Peshawar. He replaces Lt Hidayatur Rehman, who in turn has been appointed IG Training and Evaluation at GHQ – a position previously held by the current army chief.

Lt Gen Humayun Aziz, who was also promoted on Friday, has been appointed IG Communications and IT at GHQ. Lt Gen Qazi Ikram, who was promoted alongside him, has been appointed Chief of Logistics Staff at GHQ.

IG Frontier Corps Balochistan Lt Gen Sher Afgun — who was  promoted on Friday as well — has been posted as Commander 31 Corps, Bahawalpur. Lt Gen Naeem Ashraf, who was promoted the same day too, has been appointed as Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) chairman.

Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal, the last of the generals promoted on Friday, will continue as DG Frontier Works Organisation, according to ISPR. Lt-Gen Nadeem Raza was appointed Commander 10 Corps on Friday, the same day he was promoted.

Gen Qamar on Friday also appointed Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar as Commander 2 Corps, Multan and Lt Gen Zafar Iqbal as DG Joint Staff. Earlier on Wednesday, the army chief also appointed Lt Gen Shahid Baig Mirza as the new Corps Commander Karach in place of Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2016.