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Chief of the Army Staff | General Raheel Sharif's Desk.

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Look at the two army personnel behind Gen Sharif and Nawaz sharif lol!
 
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Pakistan’s army breaks step with its government

Army chief General Sharif is spearheading the response to the Taliban’s Peshawar school attack, reports Farhan Bokhari

When children who survived the Taliban’s 16 December 2014 attack on a school in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar returned to class on 12 January, they were formally received by Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.

However, his high-profile presence, widely reported by Pakistani media, provided a sharp contrast with the conspicuous absence of Pakistan’s key political leaders, notably Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (unrelated to Gen Sharif) and President Mamnoon Hussain. From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – of which Peshawar is the capital – neither Governor Mehtab Ahmed Khan nor Chief Minister Pervez Khattak attended.

A soft coup?

In the days following the 16 December attack – which killed 150 people, mostly teenage students of the army-run school – political analysts have viewed the army’s fast-rising profile as a guarantor of stability across the country. The Pakistan Army’s growing footprint has even sparked suggestions of a ‘soft coup’ under way in a country ruled by the army for almost half its life as an independent state.

For the moment, senior army officers who spoke to IHS Jane’s deny the army is positioning itself for a takeover. Nonetheless, that commitment has not stopped Gen Sharif from clearly demonstrating the army’s determination to influence Pakistan’s security-related policies beyond its already significant clout in this area.

The day after the Peshawar attack, Gen Sharif, accompanied by Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, director general of the army-run Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) counter-espionage agency, travelled to Kabul to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other senior officials. During the visit Gen Sharif handed over evidence from radio intercepts of communications between the Taliban involved in the Peshawar attack and their handlers across the border.

“The intercepts clearly showed that the militants were being guided by handlers in Afghanistan,” one senior Pakistani intelligence officer told IHS Jane’s.

“General Sharif clearly demanded from the Afghans that they [the Afghans] had to take steps immediately to target the handlers.”

His account highlights the Pakistan Army chief’s personal involvement directly after the attack in an issue where many say Prime Minister Sharif should have acted first.

Special courts

Then, on 6 January, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament adopted a constitutional amendment for setting up special courts to be presided over by army officers for the next two years to prosecute individuals accused of terrorism: a move the army is widely speculated to have pressed the prime minister to support.

“It [the establishment of military courts] was presented [by the army] to the prime minister as a fait accompli,” said a senior government official working closely with Prime Minister Sharif.

Analysts point out that the Pakistan Army’s growing involvement with security policies since the Peshawar attack reflects poorly on Prime Minister Sharif’s increasingly unpopular government. Despite a plunge in global oil prices, the regime has failed to curb electricity shortages. Pakistan’s media reported on 1 January that the government has slapped a 5% indirect tax on petroleum products after failing to meet targets for revenue collection agreed with the International Monetary Fund for a loan.

‘The saviour’

Then, from mid-January onwards, Pakistan suffered severe petrol shortages. According to officials, the crisis, which added to Prime Minister Sharif’s unpopularity, was caused by the government’s failure to import adequate petrol stocks to meet domestic demand.

“In the eyes of our public, it’s the army that is holding Pakistan together,” Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani commentator on defence and security affairs, told IHS Jane’s. “While the civilian government is seen to be ineffective and unable to meet the challenge, the army is popularly seen as the saviour.”

Meanwhile, Gen Sharif, in meetings with US officials in November 2014 and UK officials in January, gave the impression of clearly understanding the country’s security-related challenges.

“The general is demonstrating not only a clarity that people have not seen from any Pakistani politician, he also has the means to deal with the challenge,” said an Islamabad-based Western ambassador, referring to Pakistan’s 500,000-strong force with a capacity to launch ground offensives and aerial attacks.

In the past, the army has been accused by Western officials of supporting Islamic militant groups involved in attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan as well as on Indian Army troops in India’s predominantly Muslim Kashmir province.

However, army officers close to Gen Sharif told IHS Jane’s that since becoming chief of army staff (COAS) in late 2013 the general has decided any group involved in attacks inside Pakistan will be targeted, including those with past ties to the army.

Yet many critics argue that the failure of Prime Minister Sharif’s government to revamp policies in key areas could leave the job of fighting militancy half done. Although the government has promised to begin blocking financial support to militant groups, critics find the commitment unconvincing in a country where almost 99% of the population pays no income tax.

“There is a large black economy in Pakistan that no one wants to touch as [the authorities try to] make life difficult for terrorists,” concluded the Western ambassador.

“We feel frustrated with [Prime Minister] Sharif, who says all the right things but hasn’t demonstrated how the job will be done,” he said. “That’s why there is so much interest in talking to the other [General] Sharif.”

Farhan Bokhari is a JDW Correspondent based in Islamabad
 
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In general I am not a supporter of Martial Law but how many times do we have to test Nawaz and Zardari to realize the fact that their interests and assets don't reside IN Pakistan .. Their only aim is to manipulate the whole system in their favor so they and their family/touts/cronies can mint as much as they can .. on the other hand the generals (majority) are from amongst the middle class and often have all their interests and assets INSIDE Pakistan.

The only time when a martial law fails to deliver is when the General in command tries to prolong his tenure and tries to find a middle ground between military and political stake holders. This is where the POLITICAL advisers flush him down the drain. The biggest mistake of Musharaf was to sign an NRO and letting go of Nawaz and Zardari .. The first thing he should have done is to cut off their heads as soon as taking over control in 1999.
 
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How are well connected uniform monkeys doing? Making a lot of dough yo?

Selling your country...getting money...sending your family abroad...

RAW has its people working in Balochistan government. Literally Indian nationals!

Pakistan has a lot of mess to clean if it wants to remain independent!!!!

Past 13 years...Jernails have ruined Pakistan!

oh hey guys look another Democracy Brat....
 
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the J-11B is an improved version of J11 or the SU27!
it have better stealth features making it 4.5 generation plane better than the 4 generation su27!!
 
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Musharraf and Raheel Sharif , i really wanted to meet them , they both have awesome personalities ... i know its almost impossible but just a wish :D

Raheel Sharif always looks so serious , i wonder if he smile too :)
 
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Musharraf and Raheel Sharif , i really wanted to meet them , they both have awesome personalities ... i know its almost impossible but just a wish :D

Raheel Sharif always looks so serious , i wonder if he smile too :)

I met Musharraf once in London during his so called exile. That man has a good personality.

the J-11B is an improved version of J11 or the SU27!
it have better stealth features making it 4.5 generation plane better than the 4 generation su27!!
It is not right thread plz.
 
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Musharraf and Raheel Sharif , i really wanted to meet them , they both have awesome personalities ... i know its almost impossible but just a wish :D

Raheel Sharif always looks so serious , i wonder if he smile too :)
Should I upload a picture in which he is smiling?
 
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I don't understand the fascination people have with Musharaf. He might have been a great COAS but as a dictator/politician he did nothing but corruption just like any other politician we have. The economy that improved during his tenure was due the massive military aid coming to Pakistan due to the Afghanistan war. How many major infrastructure projects did he start? Did he bring any change in way Pakistan operates? Socially, economically? Love for Army should not be blinded to a point where we as a nation can not call someone out for his/her wrong doings. As a dictator/COAS he could have improved everything in Pakistan. Who was he answerable too? I couldn't find any thread to give my 2 cents. Just my opinion..... Sorry for off topic rant...
 
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