In a fallout from the appointment of lt Gen Raheel Sharif as the new Army chief, lt Gen Haroon Aslam on Thursday resigned because he was superseded for the top post.
lt Gen Aslam was superseded by lt Gen Sharif and lt Gen Rashad Mahmood, who was made the Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee(CJCSC).
Aslam has sent his resignation letter to Defence Ministry from the General Headquarters(GHQ), a senior Government official said.
“He(Aslam) has opted for early retirement. This is an established practice,” the official said. lt Gen Aslam had also skipped the farewell dinner hosted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last night for the outgoing Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani who will be hanging up his boots on Friday. He was the senior most General after Kayani. Sharif had earlier said that he would go by seniority to select the 15th Chief of the Army Staff to head the 6,00,000-strong Army but on Wednesday chose the third senior ranking General.