Pakistan’s former spymaster and senior-most Lieutenant General Asim Munir was on Thursday appointed as the new army chief by President Arif Alvi. He will be the first army chief who has headed both the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI).

His stint as the spy chief at the ISI was the shortest ever as he was replaced by Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid within eight months on the insistence of then Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019. Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa who retires on November 29 after two consecutive three-year terms.

“The President has promoted Lieutenant General Syed Asim Munir to the rank of general with immediate effect and appointed him as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) with effect from 29th November 2022,” said a statement issued by the President’s office.

It added that President Alvi has promoted Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza to the rank of general with immediate effect and appointed him as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a summary to President Alvi for appointing Munir as the COAS and Mirza as CJCSC.