Three new corps commanders named

[sonicboom]

Three new corps commanders named

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Large-scale Army reshuffle; Mustafa named Mangla commander; Zia to head Southern Command, Rashid Lahore Corps

By Shakil Shaikh

ISLAMABAD: Lieutenant General Khalid Shamim Wyne, who will head the seniority list of three-star generals by the time Army Chief General Parvez Kayani completes his three-year tenure later this year, was appointed Chief of General Staff (CGS) on Saturday.

Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Wyne succeeded Lt Gen Mustafa Khan as CGS as Khan has been sent to the offensive Mangla Corps.

Three new corps commanders were appointed with adjustments at the highest-level of the command structure of the Pakistan Army.

Adjutant General (AG) Lt Gen Khalid Zia has been sent to succeed Lt Gen Wyne as Commander Southern Command (previously known as Quetta Corps) with newly-promoted Lt Gen Rashid Mehmood to command important Lahore Corps after serving in the elite intelligence outfit - Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

With second phase of adjustments kicked off for those promoted as 2-star generals, outgoing DG Military Intelligence (MI) Maj Gen Mohammad Asif has been sent to Sialkot as General Officer Commanding (GOC).

Army Chief General Kayani has already appointed recently-promoted Maj Gen Naushad Ahmed Kiani as DG MI who took over charge of the MI some two days back.

Maj Gen Sajjad Ghani, GOC 10 Div, has been appointed VCGS and Maj Gen Javed Iqbal will be GOC Swat.

Newly-promoted Maj Gen Nasrullah Tahir Dogar is posted as GOC Pannu Aqil while Maj Gen Abid Hussain has been sent to Okara as GOC.

Maj Gen Allah Ditta is sent to ISI, Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar is posted as GOC Kohat and Maj Gen Ghayyur will be the GOC Peshawar.

Another phase of adjusting promoted generals is likely to take place mid-this year, following which the all important decisions on giving extension or appointing new army chief and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be taken possibly in September-October this year, though the chairman JCSC would be retiring in October this year after completing his tenure and Army Chief General Kayani would be completing his tenure towards the end of November this year.

Following the passage of 18th Amendment, the powers to appoint services chiefs has been shifted from the president to the prime minister, though in real practical world it is not possible for Prime Minister Gilani to take such important decisions of appointing services chiefs without consulting and securing assent of President Asif Zardari, who is also co-head of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Three new corps commanders named