lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has extensive
experience in handling affairs in PoK and the Northern Areas, was on Saturday appointed Pakistan’s new Army chief to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by elevating him to the rank of four-star general, officials said.
Bajwa will take charge of the world’s sixth-largest Army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.
Raheel in January had declared he would not seek extension. “I will retire on the due date,” he had said.
There were speculation that the PMl-N Government would give him extension at the eleventh hour citing reasons that he was needed by the country to lead war on terror.