Pakistan Army rejig : Lt Gen Asim Bajwa posted Quetta's commander

Pakistan Army on Friday announced a major reshuffle of three senior generals, including former director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations, Lt General Asim Bajwa, who has been posted as corps commander southern command (Quetta).

The high-level transfers were announced after General John W. Nicholson, the top United States commander in Afghanistan, claimed that the U.S. was aware of Afghan Taliban leadership's presence in Peshawar and Quetta, adding that the military would continue to put pressure on Taliban sanctuaries inside and outside Afghanistan.

Lt Gen Asim Bajwa replaced Lt Gen Aamer Riaz, the Dawn newspaper quoted a statement issued by the ISPR, the army's media wing.

Lt Gen Riaz has been appointed Corps Commander Lahore, while Lt Gen Sadiq Ali, who currently holds the position, has been posted as inspector general of the Arms Branch at General Headquarters, Rawalpindi, ISPR said.

Lt Gen Ali will replace Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, who was posted as the inspector general of the Arms Branch by Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Lt Gen Asim Bajwa remained the public face of the military for nearly four-and-a-half years, and was the first three-star general to hold the position.

He was succeeded as DG ISPR by Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the current ISPR chief, in Dec 2016.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first address as the commander-in-chief, called for greater troop deployment in Afghanistan while lambasting Pakistan for offering safe havens to "agents of chaos".

The reshuffle in Pakistan army took place almost 10 months after army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa relocated 10 top commanders in December 2016, the Express Tribune reported.