ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif on Monday named Lt Gen Obaidullah Khan as the commander of the Army’s Strategic Forces Command (ASFC).

The appointment came as part of a major reshuffle in the army -- the largest since Gen Sharif took over army’s command last month.

Lt Gen Obaidullah, who was promoted over the weekend as three star general, replaced Lt Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani.

The ASFC is a component of the National Command Authority (NCA), which is responsible for development and employment of nuclear weapons.

While the decision making regarding deployment of nuclear weapons is centralised with the NCA, the strategic forces command of all the three services are responsible for looking after the training, technical aspects and administrative issues.

The ASFC has gained added significance following the introduction of short-range tactical nuclear weapons.

The change in the leadership of the ASFC follows the change at Strategic Plans Division (SPD), where retired Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai was last week replaced by Lt Gen Zubair Mehmood Hayat.

Lt Gen Obaidullah is presently posted as General Officer Commanding at Kharian. He earlier served as Inspector General Frontier Corps (IG-FC). He is from the Artillery wing of the Army.

Outgoing ASFC commander Lt Gen Gilani has been appointed as the Chief of Logistic Staff. The position had fallen vacant following retirement of Lt Gen Haroon Aslam after he was superseded last month.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen Javed Iqbal has been posted as Corps Commander Bhawalpur in place of Lt Gen Hayat, who has been transferred to SPD.

Lt Gen Iqbal is currently president of the National Defense University, Islamabad.

In another important shuffle, commander of the Army Air Defense Command, Lt Gen Zamirul Hassan Shah, has been posted as adjutant general.

He has been replaced at the Air Defense Command by another recently promoted general -- Lt Gen Zahid Latif, who prior to his elevation was serving as director general of Personnel Services at the Military Secretary’s Branch of the General Headquarters.

Lt Gen Ikramul Haq has been posted as Inspector General Training and Evaluation -- a slot that fell vacant after appointment of Gen Raheel Sharif as the army chief.

Lt Gen Haq is currently vice chief of general staff.