ISLAMABAD: Maj Gen Javed Mahmood Bukhari, currently commander of the 8th Division in Sialkot, has been appointed the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 17th Infantry Division, which is operating in Swat, in place of Maj Gen Sanaullah Khan Niazi who was killed in a terrorist attack on Sept 15.

Gen Bukhari, from the Corps of Engineers, had earlier served as the director general of the Frontier Works Organisation.

The appointment came as part of a major reshuffle announced by the army on Monday.

Addressing officers during his visit to the Division Headquarters in Swat over the weekend to pay his respects to the slain commander Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had said that the army would remain in the valley to preserve security gains made during a counter-militancy operation.

Gen Bukhari’s first task in his new posting would be to raise the morale of his troops after the assassination of Gen Sanaullah in an improvised explosive device attack in which a colonel and a sepoy were also killed.

He would also be expected to work for fulfilment of Gen Kayani’s pledge of “bringing the perpetrators of the cowardly act of terrorism to justice”.

D.I. KHAN: In another important move, 40th Division (Dera Ismail Khan) GOC Maj Gen Ahmad Hayat was transferred to the Inter-Services Intelligence agency as head of the analysis wing.

Gen Hayat replaces Maj Gen Sahibzada Isfandiyar Pataudi, who was superseded in promotions announced last week and is awaiting his next posting.

Gen Hayat was the GOC in D.I. Khan when Taliban attacked the fortified jail in the town on July 29 and freed about 250 inmates despite intelligence alerts about the attack.

The army came in for intense criticism after the jailbreak for not having aided the civilian law-enforcement agencies during the attack.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had complained to the army top brass that despite having jointly planned a response to the anticipated attack with the civilian agencies, the troops deployed in D.I. Khan did not respond in a timely manner when the terrorists struck.

PTI chief Imran Khan had also raised questions as to how the attackers had managed to get hundreds of their accomplices freed despite deployment of an army division in and around D.I. Khan.

The new GOC in D.I. Khan is Maj Gen Abid Ejaz Kahloon, from the Infantry, who was promoted in March.

LAHORE CORPS: Lt Gen Naweed Zaman was named the new commander of the IV Corps, Lahore.

He will replace Lt Gen Maqsood Ahmed, who was last month appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as military adviser to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Gen Zaman is currently military secretary at the General Headquarters.

Lt Gen Mazhar Jamil, promoted last week, has been appointed as the military secretary. His last assignment was vice-chief of general staff.

Lt Gen Khalid Asghar will continue to function as Inspector General (C&IT) at the GHQ, a position he held before his elevation last week.