The X Corps is a corps of 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 ...

, currently assigned in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is one of two corps that are currently active in Kashmir. One of its most important brigades, the

111th Infantry Brigade The 111th Infantry Brigade or 111th Brigade or Triple-1 Brigade, is an infantry brigade of the Pakistan Army notable for its frequent involvement and fast response in military coup d'etats since Pakistani independence. From 11 January 2012 Briga ...

in Rawalpindi, is assigned Presidential Guard duties along with ceremonial duties for foreign dignitaries arriving in Pakistan.The current commander of this corps is Lt. Gen

Shahid Imtiaz ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

History

The X Corps was raised in 1974 by Lt. General

Aftab Ahmad Khan Lieutenant-General Aftab Ahmad Khan was a Pakistan Army Infantry Officer, born in Batala, Gurdaspur District, British India on 22 October 1923 to the illustrious family of Khan Bahadur Mian Altaf Hussain Khan (1874–1946) and Mehndi Begum. ...

. Headquartered in

, it is responsible for operations in some areas of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

.X Corps
/ref> Before that, all formations in Kashmir were controlled directly from GHQ. As an ode to Lt. General

, the insignia of the X Corps features a Rising Sun or Aftab (in Urdu) with 10 rays extruding from it.

Serving on the Line of Control

In 1974, as today, the Indian and Pakistani forces face each other across the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...

(LoC), and there are often exchanges of fire, and sometime full-scale battles. Since 1974, the formation's primary occupation has been to protect Pakistani interests on the LoC.

Siachen conflict

In 1984, the Pakistan Army was involved in a major skirmish with the Indian Army in the northernmost part of the disputed region of

. Under the command of Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, the X Corps was put into action on the highest battlefield in the world.

Kargil War

In 1999, under the command of Lt Gen

Mahmud Ahmed Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed ( ur, ; b. 1944) is a retired three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence from 1999 to 2001. He played a crucial role in sponsorsh ...

, the conflict over Kargil saw the corps enter action, in Kargil itself, and all along the LoC. Over several weeks in June 1999, the entire corps was engaged for the first time in its history. During the fighting, Havildar Lalak Jan, a trooper of the corps would earn the Nishan-e-Haider.

Structure

X Corps has following units under its operational control:- 5 infantry divisions, 1 infantry brigade, 1 armoured brigade, 1 artillery brigade, 1 signal brigade and 1 engineering brigade.

History

Serving on the Line of Control

Siachen conflict

Kargil War

Structure

List of corps commanders

References

Further reading