Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Habibullah Khan Khattak also known as Muhammad Habibullah Khan (17 October 1913 – 1994) was a Pakistani Army officer born in Wana,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. He was the son of Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, and was the younger brother of former Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Aslam Khattak, former Federal Minister

Yusuf Khattak Muhamad Yusuf Khan Khattak ( b. 18 November 1917 – 29 July 1991) was a Pakistani politician, Socialism in Pakistan, left-wing intellectual, lawyer, and noted Pakistan Movement :Pakistan Movement activists, activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. ...

and Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan. His son

Ali Kuli Khan Khattak Lieutenant General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak ( ur, ) is a retired Pakistani three-star rank general officer and former field commander of X Corps. Prior to this field assignment, he was the chief of general staff and also directed the directora ...

also rose to the rank of lieutenant general and retired as the Chief of General Staff (CGS) in 1998. His son, like him, belonged to the famed

Baloch Regiment The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of ...

Military career pre-WW2

After completing intermediate education from Islamia College,

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, he was one of the 25 people selected from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

for the first course at the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

, Dehradun. He was commissioned a second lieutenant 1 February 1935 and attached to the 2nd battalion South Staffordshire Regiment 24 February 1935. He was posted to his permanent British Indian Army unit, 5th battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment on 24 February 1936.October 1939 Indian Army List His seniority as a second lieutenant was antedated to 4 February 1934 and he was promoted to lieutenant 4 May 1936.

Action in World War

He was promoted to captain on 4 February 1942.April 1944 Indian Army List By April 1944, he was serving with the Bihar Regiment. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he campaigned in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and was amongst a handful of Indian officers to have commanded an infantry battalion at war. He was mentioned in dispatches for service in Burma in the London Gazette 10 January 1946 as temporary Major, Bihar regiment.

Pakistan Army career

His rapid rise in the Pakistan Army saw him as a two-star general at the age of 40, and at this rank he held the appointments of a divisional commander, of the Chief of Training Pakistan Army, of the Chief of General Staff and of the first Military Commander of the

Baghdad Pact The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tur ...

. In December 1958, he graduated from the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(now the RCDS) and was promoted to lieutenant general rank and appointed as Deputy C-in-C of the Pakistan Army. He was prematurely retired in October 1959 at the age of 46. For his services, he was awarded the 3rd highest civilian award of

Sitara-e-Pakistan The Nishan-e-Pakistan ( ur, , , ''Order of Pakistan'') is the highest civilian award of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is awarded for "those who have rendered services of highest distinction" to the national interest of Pakistan. Nishan i ...

, which follows the Nishan-e Pakistan and the Hilal-e-Pakistan. In 1991, he was invited by the regiment he had commanded, the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army to participate in its Golden Jubilee. He attended the ceremonies.

Politics

After his premature retirement from the Army, Khattak became closely involved in the private industry sector through his company Ghandhara Industries, which he founded on 23 February 1963 and which is headquartered in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, Pakistan. This company produces pickup trucks, buses and heavy trucks.Remembrance: True blue
The News International (newspaper), Retrieved 17 October 2019GNL (Ghandhara Nissan Limited) and market leader of heavy trucks
Business Recorder (newspaper), Published 30 July 2005, Retrieved 17 October 2019 He also served as a federal minister during

Zia-ul Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's time and made an abortive attempt to contest elections from his home constituency of Karak.

Death

General Habibullah Khan Khattak died in 1994.

References

External links

BIBOJEE Group of Companies

2019 Annual Report of Ghandhara Nissan Limited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khattak, Habibullah Khan 1913 births 1994 deaths Pashtun people Pakistani generals People from Waziristan Islamia College University alumni British Indian Army officers Baloch Regiment officers Indian Military Academy alumni Pakistani industrialists

Habibullah Khan Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901 ...

Recipients of the Sitara-e-Pakistan Pakistani company founders