Lieutenant General
Asif Ghafoor
HI(M)
President of the National Defence University
Assumed office
November 2023
Corps Commander XII Corps
In office
4 August 2022 – 24 November 2023
Preceded bySarfraz Ali
Succeeded byRahat Naseem
Inspector General Communication & Information Technology
In office
28 November 2020 – 2 August 2022
General Officer Commanding 40th Infantry Division, Okara
In office
31 January 2020 – 28 November 2020
20th Director-General of the ISPR
In office
15 December 2016 – 31 January 2020
PresidentMamnoon Hussain
Arif Alvi
Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
Imran Khan
Preceded byAsim Saleem Bajwa
Succeeded byBabar Iftikhar
General Officer Commanding 21st Artillery Division, Swat
In office
February 2016 – 15 December 2016
Personal details
BornLahore, Pakistan
Residence(s)Islamabad, Pakistan
Alma materPakistan Military Academy, Command & Staff College Quetta, Command & Staff College Bandung (Indonesia), National Defence University, Islamabad
AwardsHilal-e-Imtiaz (Military)
Military service
Allegiance Pakistan
Branch/service Pakistan Army
Years of service1987–present
Rank Lieutenant General
Battles/wars

Asif Ghafoor HI(M) (Urdu: آصِف غفور ) is a Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army,[1] currently serving as the President of the National Defence University, Islamabad. He was most recently serving as the Corps Commander Quetta. Ghafoor has also served as the 20th Director General of the ISPR..[2]

Education

Asif Ghafoor is a graduate of the Command & Staff College in Quetta, Command & Staff College Bandung in Indonesia and the National Defence University in Islamabad. He holds a master's degree in Strategic Studies.

Personal life

Asif Ghafoor was born in Lahore, Pakistan. Asif Ghafoor is a married and blessed with two sons, Saad Ghafoor and Saud Ghafoor.[3]

Military life

He was commissioned on 9 September 1988 in the 87 SP Medium Regiment Artillery after four years of training (1984-1988) as a Cadet in the Junior Cadet Battalion at PMA Kakul (1986–88). He had participated in the Kargil War as a Major, operations against terrorists in tribal areas of FATA and Swat during 2008-10 as a Lieutenant Colonel in Operation Sherdil and has commanded a Division at Swat, Malakand in 2016 as a Major General. Asif has also served as Director Military Operations at Army Headquarters GHQ as a Brigadier commanded Divisional Artillery deployed along the Line of Control and infantry brigade along eastern border. He has been on faculty of Command and Staff College Quetta.

The General has served on various staff, instructional and command assignments including Brigade Major Infantry Brigade, Assistant Military Secretary MS Branch, GSO-I Military Operations Directorate, GHQ, Director Military Operations in Military Operations Directorate, GHQ. He has been on the faculty of Command and Staff College, Quetta. He has commanded his parent unit in Operation al-Mizan, Artillery Brigade on Line of Control, Infantry Brigade on Eastern Border and a Division at Swat, Malakand.[4][5][6] The General is recipient of COAS Commendation Card[7] for operations in Bajaur during 2008 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military).

DG ISPR

In December 2016, Ghafoor was appointed as the Director-General of the ISPR.[8] He is considered as one of most prominent DG in the history of ISPR as he rose to the fame among youth of Pakistan. His tweet about the enquiry of Dawn leaks went viral on 29th April 2017, bringing him under the shadow of fame and criticism by the different walks of Pakistan. [9] Moreover, Major-general Ghafoor held regular media briefings in which he touched he presented perspective of the Pakistan's Armed Forces related to the issues of the national security, foreign policy and national politics.

Asif Ghafoor also introduced term fifth Generation warfare among strategic community of Pakistan in which he warned Pakistan regarding the threat of information warfare that Pakistan is being faced with.

India-Pakistan Standoff 2019

General Asif Ghafoor primarily gained fame during the time of 2019 India-Pakistan standoff, in which Major-general Asif Ghafoor acted as the principal face of the Pakistan Armed Forces, playing role of the chief spokesman during the time of crisis. [10] [11]It was Ghafoor who disclosed first information regarding India's airstrikes on the Balakot on the night of 26 February 2019 and subsequent Pakistan's retaliatory response against India next day 27th February 2019, in which Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian jets.[12] General Ghafoor initially claimed two Indian pilots were captured, however, he later backtracked his statement and said only Indian 1 pilot, named as Abhinandan Varthman was under the custody of Pakistan Army. [13] [14]

In January 2020, Gen. Ghafoor was appointed as the General Officer Commanding 40 Division in Okara.[15][16][17] On 25 November 2020, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General[18] and appointed as Inspector General Communications and Information Technology, at GHQ where he continued to serve till August 2022. Between August 2022 to November 2023, Asif Ghafoor was appointed Quetta Corps Commander after the death of Lt General Sarfraz Ali in an air crash.[19]

The General presently serving as the President National Defence University Islamabad since November 2023.

Commands held

Commanding Details
S NoCommandDurationPreceded BySucceeded By
121 Artillery Division, Swat (Now at Pannu Aqil)January 2016 - December 2016Maj GenMaj Gen (Now Lt Gen) Ali Aamir Awan
2Director-General Inter-Services Public RelationsDecember 2016 - January 2020Lt Gen Asim BajwaMaj Gen (Lt Gen) Babar Iftikhar
340 Infantry Division, OkaraJanuary 2020 - December 2020Maj Gen Azhar WaqasMaj Gen Asad Ur Rehman
4Inspector General Communication and Information Technology December 2020 - August 2022Lt Gen Ali Aamir AwanLt Gen Muhammad Munir Afsar
5Commander XII Corps, QuettaAugust 2022 – November 2023Lt Gen Sarfaraz AliLt Gen Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan
6President National Defence UniversityNovember 2023 - presentLt Gen Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan

Awards and decorations

Hilal-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Crescent of Excellence)
Tamgha-e-Diffa

(General Service Medal)

Siachen Glacier Clasp

 Tamgha-e-Baqa

(Nuclear Test Medal)

1998

 Tamgha-e-Istaqlal Pakistan

(Escalation with India Medal)

2002

 Tamgha-e-Azm

(Medal of Conviction)

(2018)

10 Years Service Medal 20 Years Service Medal 30 Years Service Medal 35 Years Service Medal
Jamhuriat Tamgha

(Democracy Medal)

1988

 Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha

(Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990

 Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan

(Independence Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997

 Command and Staff College Quetta

Centenary Instructor's Medal

References

  1. ↑ Hussain, Abid (2020-01-18). "Pakistan two-star general: Farewell to a social media celebrity". BBC News. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. ↑ "6 Pak Army major generals promoted to lieutenant general rank". DAWN.COM. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  3. ↑ Javed, Kinza (2022-12-23). "Lt-Gen Asif Ghafoor's son Saad Ghafoor ties knot in an intimate nikkah ceremony". Pk Showbiz. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  4. ↑ "Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor appointed DG ISPR". DAWN.COM. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor named DG ISPR - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor is new DG ISPR". The News. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Major General Asif Ghafoor, nswc, psc, fsc(In), (L)qsl". ISPR.GOV.PK. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor appointed DG ISPR". Dawn. December 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ "https://twitter.com/OfficialDGISPR/status/858257576210952192?lang=en". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  10. ↑ DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor Reaction on India's Fake Surgical Strike 2.0 | SAMAA TV, retrieved 2023-12-05
  11. ↑ DG ISPR Press Conference | 27 February 2019 | Aaj News, retrieved 2023-12-05
  12. ↑ "https://twitter.com/OfficialDGISPR/status/1100207947022565377?lang=en". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "https://twitter.com/OfficialDGISPR/status/1100641491679150080". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "https://twitter.com/OfficialDGISPR/status/1100739613486915584?lang=en". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  15. ↑ "Major reshuffle: Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor replaced as DG ISPR". The News International. January 16, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar replaces Asif Ghafoor as DG ISPR". Dawn. January 16, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Pakistan two-star general: Farewell to a social media celebrity". BBC. 18 January 2020.
  18. ↑ Article title
  19. ↑ "Shuffle in top brass as six major generals promoted". Dawn. November 26, 2020.
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