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Two important Corps Commands at Multan and Bahawalpur, as also the posts of Adjutant General and Quartermaster General at General Headquarters now stand vacant, reveals Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Though not announced or covered in the Pakistani media so far, the retirements of Pakistan army officers belonging to the 78th and 79th Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) long course, as also those serving from the 19th Officers Training Scheme (OTS, Mangla), appear to have been carried out on schedule, as was being widely expected.
Those retired include Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz (19th OTS; Frontier Force Regiment), Corps Commander, II Corps, Multan; Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor (78th PMA; Artillery), President, National Defence University; Lieutenant General Mohd Ali (79th PMA; Artillery), erstwhile Quartermaster General, who is appointed secretary, defence for a three year term and Lieutenant General Saqib Mehmood Malik (79th PMA; Punjab Regiment), Corps Commander, 31 Corps, Bahawalpur.
The strength of three star lieutenant generals now stands at 24 (13 from Infantry, 2 Engineers, 1 Air Defence, 5 Armoured Corps, 2 Artillery, 1EME), leaving scope for at least three or four promotions.
Two important Corps Commands at Multan and Bahawalpur, as also the posts of Adjutant General and Quartermaster General at General Headquarters now stand vacant.
This may enable army chief General Syed Asim Munir to possibly reshuffle his team over the next few days/weeks.
He may accommodate three star officers primarily from the 80th PMA cohort of lieutenant generals who have not yet done Corps Commands.
General Munir would have the option of sending out some of the younger three star generals promoted from the 81st or 82nd PMA courses or the 21st/22nd OTS.
Lieutenant General Mohd Asim Malik, Baluch Regiment, sword of honour of the 80th PMA and newly appointed DG, ISI, now stands as the senior most three star general. He is obviously very close to the army chief.
Apart from dealing with the difficult counter terrorism situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, he has been entrusted vital political tasks, those of negating the 'victim card' narrative of jailed former PM Imran Khan, dealing with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement call of a jirga with finesse and controlling a hostile higher judiciary through the looming succession in the supreme court and the much talked about tabling of the 26th constitutional amendment later this month.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com