MEET THE NEW ARMY CHIEF, CHAIRMAN OF CJCSC
Lt Gen Asim Munir
Munir (pictured, top left), who is all set to take office as Pakistan’s 17th army chief, is the senior most official on the list of six generals whose names were suggested by the army for the most powerful post in the country.
Munir is considered an “outstanding officer” who has served both as the chief of Military Intelligence in 2017 and the country’s agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency in 2019.
Munir served as ISI chief during Imran Khan’s government, but his stint ended in June 2019 after just eight months when he was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid.
Lt Gen Asim Munir until recently served as the quartermaster general at the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. He was the commander of the Gujranwala Corps for two years. He has also served as commander of the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was then Commander X Corps. Munir is also the recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the country’s second-highest award.
General Asim Munir hails from the Dheri Hassanabad area of Rawalpindi. He joined the Pakistan army via the Officers Training School programme in Mangla and was commissioned into the military’s Frontier Force Regiment. Munir was promoted to the rank of three-star general in 2018.
His four-year tenure as lieutenant general was set to end on November 27, but he will now serve another three years after being named the nation’s army chief.
Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza
Mirza (pictured, top right) has been named the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). The CJCSC office promotes coordination among the nation’s three armed forces. The chairman of CJCSC also serves as the deputy chairman of the National Command Authority — the highest decision-making authority on nuclear and strategic policy issues.
Lt Gen Mirza, the second senior most officer after Lt Gen Asim Munir, has been named CJCSC to succeed the outgoing Gen Nadeem Raza. Mirza is currently posted as Commander X Corps (Rawalpindi) and was seen as a front-runner for either of the two posts of COAS and CJCSC. Mirza hails from the district Chakwal in the province of Punjab and was commissioned in the 8th Battalion of the Sindh Regiment in 1985. He has served in senior military leadership positions for the past seven years, including the post of director general military operations. He rose to prominence as the director of general military operations during the former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s tenure when he became part of the core team that commanded military operations against the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan group and other militants in the Pakistan-Afghan border region.
Lt Gen Shamshad had been closely engaged in crucial decision-making related to national security and strategic affairs, especially related to China and the regional countries. He has also received the Hilali-Imtiaz military award. After his promotion to the three-star rank in 2019, he was appointed chief of general staff — the most prestigious office after the army chief.