29 November 2013

News Story: Pakistan Names New Army Chief


ISLAMABAD — Pakistan named a new army chief on Wednesday, promoting a veteran infantry commander to the most powerful position in the troubled nuclear-armed nation battling a homegrown Taliban insurgency.

Gen. Raheel Sharif will take over as head of the 600,000-strong army from Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who is retiring after six years at the helm.

The change of command comes with the country facing a daunting array of challenges — the six-year Taliban campaign which has claimed thousands of lives, vexed relations with India and the winding-down of the 12-year NATO mission in neighboring Afghanistan.

Sharif, a veteran infantry commander whose elder brother won Pakistan’s highest military award for valor in the 1971 war with India, will formally take command on Thursday.

Read the full story at DefenseNews