Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on Thursday inaugurated a cricket stadium in Khyber Agency with Shahid Afridi.

"It is an honour and a privilege to inaugurate a stadium in Khyber Agency with COAS Raheel Sharif. You are Pakistan's hero and my hero too," Afridi tweeted.

The cricketer thanked the army chief for his support, and the work he has done for Pakistan.

"You are a national hero, and I wish you the very best in your days ahead. May Allah bless you more," he added, tweeting a photo of the two hugging.

Gen Raheel praised Shahid Afridi's cricketing technique and said, "Even with my busy schedule I took time out to watch him play."

'Development on emergency basis'

Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Hidayat-ur-Rehman, in his address to the tribal jirga after the inauguration of the stadium, said development and restoration of civic facilities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) is being conducted on an emergency basis.

“The government had allocated a sum of Rs3 billion for development in Fata, but we have spent Rs10 billion till now, as we want to bring the area on par with the rest of the country,” said the corps commander.

He added that 147 schools which were damaged or destroyed during the war on terror have been rebuilt and 7,000 youth from the area have been enlisted in the armed forces.

“Work is also being done on 668 water projects which would be completed as soon as possible,” said the lieutenant general.

Talking about health facilities, the senior army officer said 31 hospitals and health facilities have been constructed in Fata to provide adequate health facilities to the people of the region.

The inauguration of the cricket stadium is among Gen Raheel's last engagements as army chief. The COAS is set to retire Nov 29 and is spending his last week as army chief on farewell visits around the country.