Former DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor has been appointed Corps Commander Quetta. The development comes a day after the martyrdom of Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali in a helicopter crash in Balochistan.
“Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor appointed Commander 12 Corps, Quetta,” ISPR said in a statement Wednesday night.
“He is replacing Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali HI(M) TBT and Bar, shaheed who embraced shahadat [martyrdom] in a helicopter crash due to bad weather during flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan, on August 1, 2022,” the military’s media wing added.
A Pakistan Army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, crashed near Lasbela, Balochistan while on a flood relief operation after losing contact with air traffic control.
Read more: Six Pak Army officers martyred in Balochistan helicopter crash
Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali, commander of XII Corps, was among those on board the helicopter, along with Major General Amjad, Brigadier Khalid, Major Saeed, Major Talha, and Crew Chief Mudassir. The funeral prayers of the martyred officers were offered at the Army graveyard in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Pakistan army military contingent also presented a guard of honor.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, Federal Ministers, PM AJK, Foreign dignitaries, and a large number of senior serving and retired military and civil officials and relatives of shuhahdas attended the funeral.
Pakistan’s 21st DG-ISPR
Important to note that Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor was previously appointed as Inspector General for Communication & Information Technology. He was the 21st director-general of Inter-Services Public Relations.
Read more: Statements against armed forces damaging: ISPR
The ex DG-ISPR has participated in the Kargil War as a Major, operations against terrorists in tribal areas of FATA and Swat during 2008-10 as a Lieutenant Colonel, and commanded a Division at Swat, Malakand during 2016 as a Major General.
New posting / Appointment
Lieutenant General Asif Ghafoor, Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) appointed as the new Commander XII (12) Corps Quetta@OfficialDGISPR @peaceforchange #PakistanArmy #ISPR pic.twitter.com/7vadUkSdtm
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) August 3, 2022
Lt Gen Asif Ghafoor is the recipient of the COAS Commendation Card for operations in Bajaur during 2008 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military).