Country Pakistan Type Army Corps Founded 1975 Color Red, White and Black | Allegiance Pakistan Army Headquarters Peshawar, Pakistan Branch Active duty Corps Commander Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt | |
Role Combined arms formation
Tactical headquarters element Size 60,000+ approximately (though this may vary as units are rotated) Part of Western Military Command of Pakistan Army Engagements Kargil War, War in North-West Pakistan, Siachen conflict, Soviet–Afghan War Similar Pakistan Army, I Corps, XXX Corps, IV Corps, II Corps | ||
The XI Corps is an active administrative corp of Pakistan Army. The XI Corps is the only one corps that is assigned in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan. It is currently stationed in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtaunkhuwa. The Corps was established and quickly raised in 1975 to support administrative military operational units in the NWFP and Northern Areas. The corps is internationally distinguished for its involvement in Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Contents
Afghan War
The start of the Afghan War brought the Corps to prominence. It was given three infantry divisions as well has been given the responsibility of covering the Khyber Pass, one of the two approaches by which the Soviets could attack into Pakistan (the other was the Bolan Pass, guarded by the XII Corps). For more than a decade it held the line against Soviet expansionism.
Kargil War
The end of the Cold War affected the Corp immensely. No longer facing a threat on its western flank, the army moved brigades and units away from the XIcorps, with its orientation being changed from a defending the Afghan border, to being a reserve force in Kashmir. The 1999 Kargil War saw the corps enter direct action for the first time and it fought mainly in the Gultari sector of Kashmir, where one of its members, Captain Kernel Sher Khan would be posthumously awarded the highest Pakistani military awardNishan-e-Haider , after being killed in combat in Indian-held Kashmir.
War on Terror
After September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, the XI Corps became the main Pakistani formation involved in fighting in Waziristan and the North West Frontier in general. It has been reinforced and also commands substantial forces of paramilitary Frontier Corps.
List of commanders
- Lt Gen Majeed Malik, April 1975 – March 1976
- Lt Gen Sawar Khan, March 1976 – January 1978
- Lt Gen Fazle Haq, January 1978 – March 1980
- Lt Gen Chaudhri Abdul Majid, March 1980 – April 1984
- Lt Gen Muhammad Iqbal, April 1984 – October 1985
- Lt Gen Mirza Aslam Beg, October 1985 – January 1987
- Lt Gen Ahmad Kamal Khan, January 1987 – February 1989
- Lt Gen Rehm Dil Bhatti, February 1989 – September 1990
- Lt Gen Farrakh Khan, September 1990 – August 1991
- Lt Gen Ayaz Ahmad, August 1991 – May 1994
- Lt Gen Mumtaz Gul, May 1994 – October 1996
- Lt Gen Saeed uz Zafar, October 1996 – March 2000
- Lt Gen Imtiaz Shaheen, March 2000 – April 2001
- Lt Gen Ehsan ul Haq, April 2001 – October 2001
- Lt Gen Ali Jan Aurakzai, October 2001 – March 2004
- Lt Gen Safdar Hussain, March 2004 – September 2005
- Lt Gen Mohammad Hamid Khan, September 2005 – April 2007
- Lt Gen Masood Aslam, April 2007 – April 2010
- Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik, April 2010 – December 2011
- Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani, December 2011 – October 2014
- Lt Gen Hidayat Ur Rehman, October 2014 – December 2016
- Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt, December 2016 – present
Composition
The order of battles of the corps keeps changing, especially in view of its current commitment in the War on terror. During peacetime the XI corps is based in the following areas: