Six major generals have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Wednesday.

In a tweet, the military's media wing said those promoted included Maj Gen Akhtar Nawaz , Maj Gen Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, Maj Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, Maj Gen Sarfraz Ali and Maj Gen Muhammad Ali.

According to the ISPR, newly appointed Lt Gen Ghafoor has been posted as the Communication and Information Technology Inspector General while Lt Gen Hayat has been appointed as the Military Secretary.

Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali and Lt Gen Muhammad Ali have been appointed as the Commander Southern Command and the Commander ASFC, respectively.

Further, Lt Gen Muhammad Abdul Aziz has been posted as the Corps Commander Lahore, Lt Gen Muhammad Waseem Ashraf as the Corps Commander Multan, Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum as the Corps Commander Karachi and Lt Gen Khalid Zia Corps Commander Bahawalpur.

Lt Gen Majid Ehsan has been posted as Inspector General Arms while Lt Gen Syed Muhammad Adnan has been appointed the Inspector General Training and Evaluation.

Gen Asif Ghafoor, who is among those promoted, has previously served as the ISPR director general. He was appointed to the post in December 2016, replacing Lt Gen Asim Bajwa.

Earlier this year, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar replaced Ghafoor as the new head of the military's media affairs wing.

Reacting to the news, Minster for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said: "Serving in the highest ranks of #PakArmy is an honour. Many congratulations to all very well deserved officers for the honours bestowed upon them and best wishes."

In June, Nigar Johar became Pakistan's first female officer to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In a tweet, the ISPR said that the officer had also been appointed as the first female surgeon general of the Pakistan Army.