Pak PM lauds ISI's role in protecting country from internal, external challenges

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday appreciated the country's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence's (ISI), role in protecting the country from "internal and external challenges."

Khan made the statement during a meeting with Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, ISI's latest Chief, at his office here on Tuesday, according to The Express Tribune. The leader also congratulated Faiz for his recent appointment to the post.

No statement regarding the meeting has been released, only a short video has been given to Pakistani media by the PM Office.

Faiz was made the chief of the Pakistani spy agency in a reshuffle within the military on Sunday. He succeeds Lieutenant General Asim Munir, who held the post for eight months before being appointed as the Commander Gujranwala Corps during the rejig.

Before being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, Faiz served as the head of the internal security in ISI for two and a half years. He was then posted as the Adjutant General at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi this April, according to the Pakistani daily.

He has been praised by the DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor, for his role in combatting terrorism previously.