ISLAMABAD: Major reshuffle is likely in the coming days as the Pakistan Army promoted 12 major generals to the rank of lieutenant general on Tuesday.
The promotions, it is believed, would pave the way for a major reshuffle in the top brass ahead of the retirement of Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa next month. According to military’s media wing, the Inter-Service Public Relation (ISPR), the promoted generals are Maj-Gen Inam Haider Malik, Maj-Gen Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Maj-Gen Nauman Zakria, Maj-Gen Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, Maj-Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar, Maj-Gen Ahsan Gulrez, Maj-Gen Syed Aamer Raza, Maj-Gen Shahid Imtiaz, Maj-Gen Mohammad Munir Afsar and Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar, the current director-general of the ISPR.
It is unusual to see so many promotions to the rank of lieutenant general at the same time. The 12 newly promoted generals will fill the positions left vacant by the retirement of three lieutenant generals in mid-October 2021, one in July this year, and five at the end of September. Lt-Gen Majid Ehsan, the then-IG Arms, Lt Gen Amir Abbasi, the then-QMG, and Lt-Gen Hamooduz Zaman Khan, the then-Commander of Army Air Defence Command, all retired a year ago.
The new promotions are being viewed as one of Gen Bajwa’s more critical decisions ahead of his departure, as the 12 promoted officers will comprise a significant portion of the staff that the next army chief will inherit in November.
Gen Bajwa had promoted seven major generals shortly after his appointment in 2016, which enabled him to build his team. The seven seats had fallen vacant after the promotion of two officers to four-star ranks, while four others resigned after they were superseded. Several of the freshly promoted officers including Gen Nauman Zikriya, Gen Babar Iftikhar and Gen Ayman Bilal Safdar have closely worked with Gen Bajwa.
