Pakistan PM names Lt Gen Asim Munir as new army chief: Minister

Information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announces the appointment on Twitter, ending weeks of speculation over the powerful post.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has named Lieutenant General Asim Munir as the new army chief.

Information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced the appointment on Twitter on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation over what some call the most powerful position in the South Asian nation.

Pakistan’s military has directly ruled the country of 220 million people for nearly half of its 75-year history.

Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad will take charge as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Aurangzeb added in her tweet.

Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa who will end his six-year tenure as army chief on November 29.

PM Sharif held a cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday where he selected Munir from a list of six nominees for the top military post.

Munir is currently posted at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. He has served briefly as chief of the country’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Agencies