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Meet Lt Gen Asim Munir, General Bajwa's successor and new Pakistan Army chief

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif named Lieutenant General Asim Munir the next chief of Pakistan’s Army on Thursday.

TN World Desk

Updated Nov 24, 2022, 01:34 PM IST

Lt General Asim Munir will be Pakistan's next Army chief.

Photo : ANI

Islamabad: As General Qamar Javed Bajwa is slated to retire next week, Lieutenant General Asim Munir has been appointed as Pakistan’s new Army Chief after days of speculation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif named Munir the next chief of Pakistan’s Army on Thursday. Munir, a four-star ranking officer, was serving as the quartermaster in the Pakistan Army before his appointment as Army chief.

Lt Gen Munir joined the military after completing the Officers Training School programme in Mangla and his first commissioning was in the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment. He was then promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in September 2018 and was subsequently appointed as DG ISI.

Munir is considered to be a close aide of outgoing Pakistan Army Chief Gen Bajwa as he commanded the troops in the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under General Bajwa. However, his appointment is considered bad news for ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.

During his Army tenure, Munir was promoted to the rank of a two-star general in September 2018. He entered the service through the Officers Training School programme in Mangla. He is the former chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.

In 2017, Lt General Munir was appointed as director general of Military Intelligence. He was made the Inter-Services Intelligence chief in October next year. However, his term as ISI chief was cut short and was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months under the government of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Lt Gen Munir was posted as Gujranwala Corps commander for two years before being moved to the General Headquarters as the quartermaster general.

Other key appointments

Apart from Munir, Lieutenant General Sahir Mirza was appointed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has decided to appoint Lt. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Lt. Gen. Syed Asim Munir as the Chief of the Army Staff using the constitutional authority," Pakistan Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted.

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