The XI Corps is a field corps of the Pakistan Army, headquartered in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.
It has the area of responsibility and to protect the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region, which has seen active military actions in the continuous Afghan conflict since its establishment in 1975.
Overview Formation and war service
As part of the major reorganization of the Pakistani military in 1974, the XI Corps was one of three corps that were formed to strengthened the national defenses to protect the north–south links from the incursions and secret raids coming from the Afghan National Army. It was followed by V Corps stationed in South, having headquartered in Peshawar Cantonment with Lt-Gen. Majeed Malik becoming its first commander in 1975.
The XI Corps structure is based on 7th Inf. Div. and the 9th Inf. Div. with the armored, engineering, and signal brigades and elements of the Frontier Corps being its part.
Similar to the X Corps, the XI Corps has an area of expertise in mountain warfare, and sometimes, it is included in the Northern Command— though it is the X Corps that leads the Northern Command overall.
Due to its deployment in sensitive border areas and mission parameters to prevent Afghan Army or insurgents' adventures in western fronts, the XI Corps has seen more military actions against the former Soviet Army, the former Afghan National Army and then the insurgents than any of Pakistan's field corps deployed in other fronts since the 1980.
Structure Based on the known information to the public release, the order of battle (ORBAT) is subject to troops rotation based on a strategic calculations by the Pakistani war strategists.
Although, the XI Corps has permanent infantry divisions with engineering and signal brigades in its support, the XI Corps has received reinforcements from local law enforcement agencies, army's special forces, and the elements of the Frontier Corps during the heights of the military operations in the war on terror theater.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Pakistan Army fields two regular divisions—the 11th Infantry Division at Peshawar and the 7th Infantry Division at Miranshah—along with supporting brigades and regiments. These are conventional formations, formally part of the Army’s order of battle.Pak Army 7th Infantry Division — also known as the “Golden Arrow Division”. It is one of the Army’s oldest and most battle‑tested divisions.The officers and soldiers of the Golden Arrow Division have participated in every war fought by Pakistan, earning a distinguished record of combat service unmatched by any other formation.After 9/11, and the United States led invasion of Afghanistan, the Golden Arrows would be called into a period of almost continuous action in difficult and mountainous terrain, carrying out operations in Waziristan and the North West Frontier Province (now called: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), against Al-Qaeda and Taliban escaping from Afghanistan. Most of the Al-Qaeda operatives have been captured by elements of this formation.
By contrast, the Frontier Corps (FC) is a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Interior, though commanded by Army officers. Its FC KPK North and FC KPK South formations operate in the same geographic areas as the Army divisions, but they are not classified as Army divisions. Instead, they function as division‑like paramilitary corps, each led by a Major General, with their own regiments and battalion‑sized wings but they assist Pak Army war against terror under the command of XI Corps.
The XI corps is based in the following areas:
Structure of XI CorpsCorpsCorps HQCorps CommanderAssigned UnitsCommanderUnit HQXI CorpsPeshawarLt. Gen Omer Ahmed Bokhari7th Infantry DivisionMajor General Adil Iftikhar WarriachMiranshah9th Infantry Division Major General Shahid Amir AfsarKohatFC KPK (North)Major General Rao Imran SartajPeshawarFC KPK (South)Major General Mehr Omer KhanLower South Waziristan DistrictIndependent Armoured Brigade NowsheraIndependent Engineering BrigadeU/I LocationIndependent Signal BrigadeU/I Location
List of Commanders XI Corps Lieutenant-General NameStart of TermEnd of Term Majeed MalikApril 1975 March 1976Sawar KhanMarch 1976January 1978 Fazle HaqJanuary 1978 March 1980 Chaudhri Abdul MajidMarch 1980 April 1984 Muhammad IqbalApril 1984 October 1985 Mirza Aslam BegOctober 1985January 1987 Ahmad Kamal KhanJanuary 1987 February 1989 Rehm Dil BhattiFebruary 1989 September 1990Farrakh KhanSeptember 1990 August 1991 Ayaz AhmadAugust 1991 May 1994 Mumtaz GulMay 1994October 1996 Saeed uz ZafarOctober 1996March 2000 Imtiaz ShaheenMarch 2000April 2001 Ehsan ul HaqApril 2001 October 2001 Ali Jan AurakzaiOctober 2001 March 2004 Safdar Hussain March 2004 September 2005 Mohammad Hamid KhanSeptember 2005 April 2007 Masood Aslam, April 2007 April 2010 Asif Yasin MalikApril 2010December 2011 Khalid RabbaniDecember 2011 December 2014 Hidayat Ur RehmanDecember 2014 December 2016 Nazir Ahmed ButtDecember 2016October 2018Shaheen Mazhar MehmoodOctober 2018November 2019Nauman MehmoodNovember 2019November 2021Faiz HameedNovember 20218 August 2022Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat Khan8 August 202216 May 2024 Omer Ahmed Bokhari17 May 2024Incumbent
References
Further reading
External links GlobalSecurity.org, Global Security Website about the XI Corps This shows the Formations Insignia Daily Times - Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik Takes Over As Peshawar Corps Commander
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