Shafiqur Rahman was a

three-star rank An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and defe ...

officer who served as the Chief of General Staff of the Army until his retirement. He is the former Director General of

Special Security Force The Special Security Force (SSF) is a Bangladeshi law enforcement agency that provides protection to government officials and foreign dignitaries. Responsibility The mission of the SSF is to provide physical security to the President an ...

(SSF), the agency in charge of protecting the

Prime Minister of Bangladesh The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা� ...

, and also served as Director of Military Operations (DMO) at Army Headquarters.

Early life and education

Shafiqur Rahman was born on 31 December 1962 in

Shariatpur District Shariatpur ( bn, শরিয়তপুর জেলা, ''Shariatpur Jela'' also ''Shariatpur Zila'') is a district in the Dhaka Division of central Bangladesh. It is bounded by Munshiganj district on the north, Barisal district on the south, Ch ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

, Pakistan. He was commissioned in the Infantry Corps of the

from the 11th BMA Long Course on 21 December 1984. Rahman completed OPCW Advance Course in the Netherlands, Junior Staff Course in Pakistan, Command & General Staff Course in the Philippines, and OPCW Basic Course in Romania. He graduated from the

Defence Services Command and Staff College The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) is situated at Batalanda, Makola (South) 12 Kilometers away from Colombo and its aim to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of experienced officers of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri ...

and completed the Army War Course at the National Defence College. He completed a master's degree in Defense Studies from National University of Bangladesh. He completed another Masters on War Studies from

Bangladesh University of Professionals Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) is the 31st public university of Bangladesh (according to University Grants Commission of Bangladesh), located in Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka. It is the first public university of Bangladesh to be run by ...

and received a Chancellor's Award for his masters work.

Career

Rahman has held a number of command positions in the Bangladesh Army. He was Infantry Battalion commander, Infantry Brigade commander of 71 Inf. Bde. of 9th Div. in Savar, and commanded three infantry divisions. He was the GOC of 55 Infantry Division and 19 Infantry Division and 24 Infantry Division. He served as the Director Military Operations (DMO) at Army Headquarters General Staff Branch. He was part of the Bangladesh contingent sent to the

United Nations Operation in Somalia I United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali ...

. He served in an infantry division as a Colonel Staff. He served as a Brigade Major. He served as the General Staff Officer (Operation) second class. He was the Private Secretary to the

Principal Staff Officer Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the office holder/ or boss in any school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level i ...

of the

Armed Forces Division The Armed Forces Division (AFD) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সশস্ত্র বাহিনী বিভাগ — ) is the principal national command authority for national defense of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The command an ...

. He was the General Staff Officer (Operations) of an independent infantry brigade. He was an instructor in the

Bangladesh Military Academy Bangladesh Military Academy (BMA) is the officers training institute for the officer cadets of Bangladesh Army. It is located in Bhatiary, near Chittagong Hill Tracts, in the Chittagong District of south-east Bangladesh, about 13 kilometres ...

and the School of Infantry and Tactics. He was a senior instructor in the Defense Services Command and Staff College. He was Bangladesh's Senior Military Liaison Officer in the

Headquarters of the United Nations zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

in New York City. In 2015 he served as the Chittagong Area Commander. He was appointed the Director General of

on 10 April 2016. On 28 July 2018 he was promoted to Lt Gen and appointed as the Chief of general staff of the army leaving Maj Gen Mojibur Rahman as the Director General of SSF.

Post retirement

After retirement he became Director of

National Bank Limited The National Bank Limited ( bn, ন্যাশনাল ব্যাংক লিমিটেড) is a private limited bank in Bangladesh. Md Mehmood Husain is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank. Currently NBL has ca ...

nominated by Shikder Insurance Company Ltd.

References

Living people Bangladesh Army generals 1962 births People from Shariatpur District National Defence College (Bangladesh) alumni {{Bangladesh-mil-bio-stub