NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum has been appointed as the new chief of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ISI in an unexpected reshuffle.
Lt Gen Anjum will replace Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, who has been appointed as the Peshawar Corps Commander.
According to Dawn, Lt Gen Anjum was previously the commander of Karachi Corps. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in September 2019.
A graduate of UK’s Royal College of Defence Studies, Lt Gen Anjum also holds a degree from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honolulu.
The outgoing spymaster Hameed was appointed to the post on June 16, 2019 in a military shake-up. He had previously served in the ISI as the head of internal security.
Lt Gen Hameed was considered as close to Army chief General Qamar Bajwa and was appointed as ISI head at a crucial time due to several external and internal security challenges.
As ISI chief, Lt Gen Hameez oversaw crucial changes in Afghanistan where the Taliban took control in August.
He even rushed to Afghanistan when the government formation talks between the Taliban and Haqqanis went sour, resulting in a scuffle during which Mullah Baradar got injured.
During his visit to Kabul, he told the media in a brief chat that “everything will be ok” in Afghanistan, when there were rumours about differences among Taliban ranks due to delay in the announcement of the government.
In Pakistan, it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative to appoint the chief of ISI. However, the choice is made by the PM in consultation with the army chief.
The Pakistani army, in an official statement, also announced two more senior-level postings.
Lt Gen Mohammad Amir was posted as Gujranwala corps commander, while Lt Gen Asim Munir was appointed as the Quarter Master General (QMG) of the Army, the statement said.
(With inputs from PTI)