ISLAMABAD: A high-level promotion board on Tuesday approved promotion to the rank of Lieutenant-General of four Major-Generals including Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Asim Bajwa.

The board headed by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif also promoted Major-General Amir Riaz, Major-General Sadiq Ali and Major-General Umar Farooq Durrani.

Lieutenant-General Asim Bajwa is expected to retain his post as DG ISPR, while Lieutenant-General Amir Riaz has been posted as Commander Southern Command Quetta or Corps Commander Quetta.

Major General Sadiq Ali is made Corps Commander Lahore.

Lieutenant-General Ikramul Haq, Lieutenant-General Hilal Hussain and Lieutenant-General Malik Zafar Iqbal were posted to the ranks of Corps Commander Gujranwala, Commander Army Strategic Force Command and Corps Commander Rawalpindi respectively by the board.

The incumbent Corps Commander Rawalpindi Lieutenant-General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been sent to GHQ and made Inspector General (IG) training .

General Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence have issued notifications for these appointments.

Prior to his appointment as DG ISPR in 2012 by then COAS Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Bajwa was posted in Dera Ismail Khan as a general officer commanding.

Under Bajwa’s leadership, the army conducted military operations in the South Waziristan tribal region to eliminate militancy and restore peace.

Prior to that, Bajwa had served as the deputy military secretary under Pervez Musharraf.

Major General Amir Riaz was appointed the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) back in 2013.

Riaz, formerly a head of the 111 Brigade, was also among the witnesses against fellow officer Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan who was convicted for having links with banned organisation Hizbul Tahrir (HuT)

According to a report published in the BBC, Riaz was promoted to the rank of Major General following his statement against Brigadier Ali. According to the report, Ali had tried to recruit Riaz in HuT, but had failed.

While Major General Durrani is serving as Vice Chief of General Staff and Major General Sadiq is General Officer commanding Bahawalpur

The newly-promoted three-star generals will be posted to new positions within the next two months by the Pakistan army.