ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa on Thursday made two major changes in his core team, bringing in new heads of the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Maj Gen Azhar Waqas has been appointed director general of the MI in place of Maj Gen Sarfraz Ali.

Maj Gen Waqas is from infantry and has previously commanded 40th Infantry Division in Okara as its general officer commanding.

Maj Gen Ali has, meanwhile, been appointed inspector general of the Frontier Corps (South) Balochistan. He had been the DG of the MI since October 2018.

Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar has been posted as chief of the ISPR in place of Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.

Maj Gen Iftikhar is from armoured corps. Prior to his new appointment, he was commanding the armoured division in Multan.

He was commissioned in 6 Lancers in March 1990 and is a graduate of the Command and Staff College Quetta; National Defence University, Islamabad; and Royal Command and Staff College, Jordan.

During Operation Zarb-i-Azb, Maj Gen Iftikhar commanded an infantry brigade in North Waziristan.

Maj Gen Ghafoor would, meanwhile, move to Okara as GOC of 40th Infantry Division.

Announcing his transfer over Twitter, Maj Gen Ghafoor said: “Thanks to everyone I have remained associated with during the tenure. My very special thanks to Media all across. Can’t thank enough fellow Pakistanis for their love and support. Best wishes to new DG ISPR for his success.”

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2020