In a major reshuffle at the senior level, Pakistan Army has approved promotion of 34 brigadiers to the post of Major General. According to sources, after the decision of the Army’s SB/1 Promotion Board, new posting of these officers will be done in the next few weeks or months. This decision has come at a time when Pakistan is facing difficulties on many fronts simultaneously.
Protests continue against the government and army in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). At the same time, attacks on Pakistan by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the border of Afghanistan have also increased. In such a situation, Pakistan Army is linking these promotions with the current security situation. The maximum number of officers who got promotion include 13 Infantry, 6 Artillery, 4 Armored Corps, 3 Engineers, 2 Air Defence, 2 Signals, 2 Army Aviation and 1 Ordnance Corps.
Pak Army promoted these military officers
The officers promoted from Infantry include Wasim Arif Raja (Defence Attache, Nigeria), Sajid Mehmood (Commander, 102 Brigade, Peshawar), Ahmed Farhan, Shahzad Azim, Sajid Akbar (Commander, 6 Brigade, Swat), Aamir Umrani, Waqas Qureshi, Mazhar Farid, Laiq Rafiq, Hasan Mehdi, Kulb-e-Hasnain, Zafar Iqbal. Atif Rafiq’s name is included.
From Artillery, the names of Saif Cheema, Faqat Nawaz, Gul Hasan, Mohammad Bilal, Qasim Shahzad, Abu Bakar, Armored Corps, Hussain Mehsud, Saad Mahmood, Ahmed Nadeem Bajwa, Fawad Ali have been included for promotion. Whereas, Ubaid, Usman have been promoted from Air Defense and Sajjad Sarwar, Sajjad Haider from Signals. Apart from this, Faisal Umair, Ahmed Salman from Army Aviation and Rana Faisal Rafiq from Ordnance, Imad, Faisal Hasan, Altaf Anjum from Engineers have been promoted.
Promoted officers may be deployed in sensitive areas
Promotion of officers who have commanded in sensitive areas like Peshawar and Swat may be an indication that the Pakistan Army is giving senior responsibilities to officers with operational experience. These new Major Generals can be deployed in PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other sensitive military areas. However, these possible deployments have not been officially confirmed yet. Promotion of senior officers in the Pakistan Army is a regular institutional process, but amid the current security situation, the discussion regarding its timing has intensified.
Why did Pakistan suddenly decide to promote 34 brigadiers?
Defense experts say that Pakistan is currently surrounded on many fronts. There is resentment against its army in areas like PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the same time, Taliban is also harassing them on the border of Afghanistan. They are suffering a lot due to this. Recently, Taliban (TTP) was successful in attacking even the regional headquarters of Pakistani Rangers in Karachi. Pakistan needs military officers with operational experience to deal with such situations. This promotion is part of that.
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