Vice chief of general staff made Mangla corps head

E-Paper | July 25, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The army on Saturday announced a reshuffle in which its vice chief of general staff was posted as a corps commander and the chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories was replaced amid criticism by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of the POF’s management.

Vice Chief of General Staff Maj Gen Azhar Saleh Abbasi was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed as corps commander of Mangla, sources said.

Gen Abbasi is from the armoured corps and has commanded a division in Wana, South Waziristan. He is replacing Lt Gen Umar Farooq Durrani as head of the Mangla-based ‘1 Strike Corps’.

Gen Durrani has, meanwhile, been moved to the Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Wah, as its chairman. Its incumbent chairman Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat is a brother of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Zubair Hayat.

Criticism by minister precedes change of command at POF, Wah

Gen Hayat has, meanwhile, been named as chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The NDMA’s current chairman, Maj Gen Asghar Nawaz, is retiring from service.

Gen Hayat’s transfer from the POF comes in the middle of a controversy about the interior minister’s involvement in trade union matters at the ordnance factories that, according to the defence sources, were being resisted by the outgoing chairman.

In a statement on Friday, Chaudhry Nisar had accused the POF management of “incompetence and lack of discipline”.

Talking to local leaders in Taxila, the minister had said: “PM Nawaz Sharif had announced a special package for the POF in 1999 and was again giving a historic package to POF employees, but [that] was unfortunately held up due to incompetence and lack of discipline of POF management.”

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2017

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Baqir Sajjad Syed is the Foreign Affairs and National Security Correspondent for Dawn. His career of over 25 years spans print and broadcast journalism. He is a former UN Reham al-Farah Fellow and held a Pakistan Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC. He tweets @baqirsajjad

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charlie

Apr 02, 2017 12:32pm

This is beyond ridiculous. Ch Nisar trying to buy votes from Wah Cantt where he was handily beaten by PTI because of an educated population which does not need any political gimmicks or handouts - over 90% literacy, pretty much full employment, model institutions, and an industrial and technological base. But Nisar and PMLN don't know otherwise.

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Ijlal

Apr 02, 2017 12:58pm

Good job. This only happens in Pakistan that a non professional incompetent person is removed from a very important post of a one of the country top departments to another job with in the organization that is also a very important post... I just can't stop laughing.

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liaqat

Apr 02, 2017 02:07pm

it is firmly believe that whatever change of command/ transfer of high profile bureacrate if takes place in near future would have far-reaching affects on the upcoming general election.

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Adnan

Apr 02, 2017 02:30pm

POF needs to look after its workforce better and to invest in the welfare of the local population as part of its corporate social responsibility.

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Mahmood

Apr 02, 2017 03:10pm

All dirty politics. No substance, no results, just political maneuvering to win another term in office, without doing much more than lining their pockets.

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tahir saleem

Apr 02, 2017 03:38pm

I will not buy the argument of Ch Nisar on POF matter. The minister himself was nominated as most incompetent person via a ruling of Supreme Court. He was also blamed for several times for meeting and collaborating with banned organizations. His own colleagues called him for resignation basing on his failures to improve affairs in NADRA. He is the most hopeless home minister ever appointed in the history of Pakistan. He would do anything to serve his political design. It is not the first time that he is involved meddling with military affairs. In the past also he was a king pin in conspiracies ageist sitting governments. The present muddle of interference in POF matter will not be ignored and he will have to answer for his actions. POF is a prestigious organization and taking side of trade union just to get cheap political popularity will not be ignored or un heeded. I congratulate Gen Umer Hyat and the present management of POF to take stand on principles .We are proud of you

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Bluecollar

Apr 02, 2017 05:05pm

I always thought that POF was well organized operation. Hope it does not end up like Pakistan Steel Mill, Karachi. POF is too important for the defense of the country.

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Ch. K. A. Nye

Apr 02, 2017 10:38pm

@Ijlal ... so in other words you believe in the assertion of the Minister who has absolutely nothing to do with POF. How can he possibly arrive at such a conclusion?

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Nazeer

Apr 03, 2017 09:03pm

Gen Hayat has always stood by the rules. A kind hearted general who has taken Pof to its new heights...development of Pofs in all spheres is not a secret..

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