Lt Gen Raheel appointed as new COAS, Lt Gen Rashad as CJCSC

ISLAMABAD: On the recommendation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Lt Gen. Raheel Sharif has been appointed as Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) while Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

President Mamnoon Hussain endorsed the PM’s recommendations both Lt Generals will be promoted to General rank on November 28.

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Nawaz held meetings separately with the two Lieutenant Generals.

According to sources, matters relating to the security of the country and professional affairs were also discussed in the meetings.

PROFILES

Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif

Lt General Raheel Sharif was born in Quetta on 16 June, 1956 to Major and Mrs Muhammad Sharif. He is the younger brother of Major Shabir Sharif Hilal-i-Imtiaz, SJ and Captain Mumtaz Sharif, Sbt.

Lt General Sharif is an alumnus of Government College Lahore and Pakistan Military Academy from where he passed out with 54th PMA Long Course. He was commissioned in October 1976 in the battle hardened and renowned 6th Battalion, The Frontier Force Regiment in which his brother embraced martyrdom.

As a young officer, he performed his duties in Gilgit in an Infantry Brigade and also served as Adjutant of Pakistan Military Academy. He did Company Commander’s Course from Germany and subsequently served in the prestigious School of Infantry and Tactics as an instructor. He attended the Command and Staff College Canada graduating with distinction.

Lt General Sharif carriers with him a vast experience of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. He served as the Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade and has commanded two infantry units i.e. 6 Frontier Force Regiment at Kashmir along the Line of Control (LoC) and 26 Frontier Force Regiment along the Sialkot Border. He remained on the faculty of the Command and Staff College, Quetta and attended Armed Forces War Course at National Defence University, Islamabad in 1998.

As a Brigadier, he has commanded two Infantry Brigades, including an Independent Infantry Brigade Group. The Lt. General has had the honour of being the Chief of Staff of two Corps, i.e. 30 Corps and 12 Corps. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies, United Kingdom.

Lt General Sharif has been the General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division and the Commandant of prestigious Pakistan Military Academy. As a Lt General he served as Corps Commander 30 Corps for two years before taking over as Inspector General Training and Evaluation in which capacity he oversaw the training of Pakistan Army.

Lt General Sharif is married and has two sons and a daughter. He is an avid reader and enjoys hunting and swimming. He has been conferred with Hilal-i-Imtiaz.

Lieutenant General Rashad Mehmood

Lieutenant General Rashad Mahmood was commissioned in May 1975 in Baloch Regiment. He has attended Company Commander Course from France and is a graduate of Commmad & Staff College, Canada and National Defence College, Islamabad.

The General Officer has varied experience of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. His major appointments include Platoon Commander, Pakistan Military Academy, Brigade Major Infantry Brigade, Instructor at Command & Staff College and National Defence College. He has remained Chief of Staff Bahawalpur Corps and Military Secretary to the President Rafiq Tarar.

The General Officer has commanded two Infantry Battalions, two Infantry Brigades and United Nations contingent at Congo, Infantry Division at Jhelum, Director General at Inter Services Intelligence Directorate, Islamabad and Commander Lahore Corps. After commanding the Corps, he took over as Chief of General Staff in January, 2013. The General Officer has been conferred with Hilal-i-Imtiaz.

Editorial Note

Profiles of Lt Generals Raheel Sharif and Rashad Mehmood were obtained from ISPR.

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THE NEWS"

Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Siachen Sunday

Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Siachen Sunday ISLAMABAD:With no sign of survivors nearly 36 hours after an avalanche smashed into a Pakistan Army camp near the Siachen Glacier, the military hoped for a ‘miracle’ on Sunday as rescuers searched for the 124 soldiers and 11 civilians buried beneath a blanket of snow.

Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited the Giari area where the avalanche struck on Saturday to supervise the rescue operation launched by the army’s Engineering Corps to recover the victims, who belong to the 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion.

“The avalanche of such a magnitude was unprecedented in the last 20 years of this Battalion Headquarters’ existence at Giari,” said Gen Kayani.

“I have directed the concerned departments of Pakistan Army to immediately mobilise all available resources with the assistance of Pakistan Air Force to carry out a full-scale rescue operation.”

According to the army, 240 troops and civilians participated in the rescue operation on Sunday with the aid of sniffer dogs and heavy machinery, some of which was flown in on military aircraft.

Rescuers dug through snow, boulders and slush in a desperate search for the 135 people buried under the snow more than 1,000 metres wide and 25 metres high – as hopes faded of finding any survivors.

“Let’s hope for a miracle,” a military official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. Another military official, also speaking off the record, said that there were reports that some of the trapped soldiers are still alive.

However, mountaineering expert Colonel Sher Khan disagreed.  “There is no hope, there is no chance at all,” he told AFP.

“You can survive only in the first 5-10 minutes,” he said. “The casualties in avalanches occur due to pressure of heavy weight, extreme cold and lack of oxygen.”

Apart from bulldozers and excavators, chemicals were being used to melt the ice. But due to harsh weather and great height, the rescue work is slow. The victims are trapped in one of the most unforgiving environments on the earth, at an altitude of 15,000 feet in the Karakoram mountain range.

Gen Kayani appreciated the morale and efforts of the troops who were braving harsh weather conditions and inhospitable terrain and directed the commanders to leave ‘no stone unturned’ to reach out to the trapped troops.

He said that the calamity, in no way, should affect the morale of the troops defending their homeland at the world’s highest battlefield.

Reactions

An eight-member team of US experts, meanwhile, arrived in Rawalpindi on Sunday to provide technical assistance in the rescue operation.

According to a military statement, discussion will be held with the US team to find out the possibility and nature of assistance required to expedite the rescue operation. Offer of technical assistance from other friendly countries is also being considered.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also offered to provide assistance to Pakistan, The Hindustan Times reported. Singh made the offer during his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.

In response, Zardari appreciated India’s offer and said he would seek assistance if needed, the report added.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP AND REUTERS)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2012.