XI Corps (Pakistan)

The XI Corps or Peshawar Corps is a corps 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–Afghan War.

XI Corps
Active1975–present
Country Pakistan
Allegiance Pakistan Army
BranchActive Duty
TypeArmy Corps
RoleCombined arms formation
Tactical headquarters element
Size20,000+ approximately (though this may vary as units are rotated)
HQ/Command Control HeadquarterPeshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province
Nickname(s)Peshawar Corps[1]
Colors IdentificationRed, white and black
   
EngagementsSiachen conflict
Soviet–Afghan War
Badaber uprising
Afghan Civil War (1989-1992)
Indo-Pakistani War of 1999
War in North-West Pakistan
DecorationsMilitary Decorations of Pakistan Military
Commanders
Corps CommanderLt. Gen Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat
Notable
commanders		Masood Aslam
Mirza Aslam Beg
Fazle Haq
Ali Jan Aurakzai
Faiz Hameed
Insignia
War Flag

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 award Nishan-e-Haider, after being martyred in combat.

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.

Structure

The order of battle 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:

The formations composition has changed on several occasions in the past, and like all formations on the western border it has received reinforcements for the war on terror, however its present composition is thought to be.

Structure of XI Corps
Corps Corps HQ Corps Commander Assigned Units Formation Badge Unit HQ
XI Corps Peshawar Lt. Gen Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat
 7th Infantry Division Miramshah
9th Infantry Division Kohat
Independent Armoured Brigade Nowshera
Independent Engineering Brigade U/I Location
Independent Signal Brigade U/I Location

List of Commanders XI Corps
Lieutenant-General

Name Start of Term End of Term
Majeed Malik April 1975 March 1976
Sawar Khan March 1976 January 1978
Fazle Haq January 1978 March 1980
Chaudhri Abdul Majid March 1980 April 1984
Muhammad Iqbal April 1984 October 1985
Mirza Aslam Beg October 1985 January 1987
Ahmad Kamal Khan January 1987 February 1989
Rehm Dil Bhatti February 1989 September 1990
Farrakh Khan September 1990 August 1991
Ayaz Ahmad August 1991 May 1994
Mumtaz Gul May 1994 October 1996
Saeed uz Zafar October 1996 March 2000
Imtiaz Shaheen March 2000 April 2001
Ehsan ul Haq April 2001 October 2001
Ali Jan Aurakzai October 2001 March 2004
Safdar Hussain March 2004 September 2005
Mohammad Hamid Khan September 2005 April 2007
Masood Aslam, April 2007 April 2010
Asif Yasin Malik April 2010 December 2011
Khalid Rabbani December 2011 October 2014
Hidayat Ur Rehman October 2014 December 2016
Nazir Ahmed Butt December 2016 October 2018
Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood October 2018 November 2019
Nauman Mehmood November 2019 November 2021
Faiz Hameed November 2021 8 August 2022
Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat 8 August 2022 present

References
  1. "Peshawar corps commander inspects highway construction in Mohmand". Daily Times.
  • Brain Cloughley, A History of Pakistan Army
  • Colonel Kaiser Hameed Khan who served in this HQ twice, as a capt during 1983 to 1986 and as Lt Col during 1996 to 1999.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.