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 ...

Naseem Rana (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

, who served as the

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI) from 1995 to October 1998. Rana belongs to Rajpoot Family of Faisalabad region of the Punjab Province.

Military career

Rana was born in middle-class family of Lyallpur (Now Faisalabad) Punjab, British Indian Empire in 1942, in the midst of

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 opposin ...

. After receiving his initial education, Rana went on to join the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy ( ur, ), also referred to by its acronym PMA. PMA is an officers training school located near Kakul village in the city and district of Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established in 1947. It is the sole service academy ...

in 1960. Rana' gained his

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and specialized in military communications. After his graduation, Rana was given commissioned in the Corps of Signals Engineering on 19 April 1964.Naseem Rana
at WikiMir Rana participated in

Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

and led a Signals platoon. After the war, Rana was sent to complete a military staff course in Quetta. In 1967, Rana joined the Command and Staff College in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

and where he gained

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

Military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...

in 1969. Following his degree, Rana was promoted to

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

and commanded a Signal battalion. Stationed close to the Indo-Pakistani border, Rana' commanded the Signals battalion during the

Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

. After the war, Rana' served in Lahore and later joined the National Defence University in 1974. In 1976, Rana obtained

in Operational analysis and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. Following his degree, Rana was made Colonel on the Staff of the 40th Army Infantry Division and served there until 1980. In 1981, Rana went to

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and attended the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Staff appointments

Rana is a prominent attendee of the international Defence Management course in the

where he gained specialized degree in operational and command analysis in 1984. After his education, Rana began in active duty and was stationed near the

Pakistan-Afghanistan border The Durand Line ( ps, د ډیورنډ کرښه; ur, ), forms the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, a international land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to th ...

where a major battle against the Soviet Union and her ally Communist Afghanistan was underway. As part of the successful

covert operations A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performe ...

, Rana remained a vital part in the war and coordinated joint operations in the war. During the 1980s, Rana was made instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics followed by academic professor at the Command and Staff College Quetta. In the late 1980s, Rana was promoted to 1-star Brigadier General and was made director-general of the Combat Development Directorate, and later he was made directorate-general of the Weapon and Equipment Directorate. In 1991, Rana was promoted to two star Major-General and was made General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division based in Punjab. In 1995, he was promoted to three star Lieutenant General and was appointed as the Director General of the

(ISI) as critical developments were taking place in Afghanistan.

War in Afghanistan

In 1996, a civil war was spread in all over

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

involving the Afghan Taliban and the Northern Alliance. During the course of the civil war, Rana commanded the ISI in support of the Taliban, playing a pivotal role in providing help to irregular hardline forces supporting the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

against the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

(Northern Alliance). In 1997, independent brigades of 40th Infantry and the

Frontier Force Regiment The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...

moved to protect the Pakistani border from any infiltrations From 1995 until 2001, Rana was the central planner for Pakistan's war in Afghanistan where he was responsible for coordinating military, intelligence, and strategic operations against the

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

. His role in the Pakistan war in Afghanistan was vital as he served as the commander of entire Pakistan Army's combatant elements in the Afghanistan. In 2007, Dr.

Ayesha Siddiqa Ayesha Siddiqa ( ur, ), (born April 7, 1966), is a Pakistani political scientist, a political commentator and an author who serves as a research associate at the SOAS South Asia Institute. She previously served as the inaugural Pakistan Fellow ...

, a Pakistani research scholar, wrote and published a book, titled "Military Inc" providing the accounts of his military involvements in Afghanistan. Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa termed him as

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...

of Pakistan, due to his resemblance to Georgy Zhukov.

Defence Secretary

Shortly after General Musharraf installed a military government, Rana was appointed as the

Defence Secretary of Pakistan The Defence Secretary of Pakistan is the Federal Secretary for Ministry of Defence of Pakistan. List of Defence Secretaries See also *Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan *Establishment Secretary of Pakistan *Foreign Secretary of Pakistan *Fin ...

, a post he headed as Lieutenant-General until 2001. In the aftermath of

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

on the

on September 11, 2001, General Musharraf immediately removed him from the post as he was one of the primary figures involved with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Naseem 1942 births Defence Secretaries of Pakistan Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence Pakistani generals Living people