Major General Syed Zafar Ul Hasan Naqvi (born 30 November 1945) is a decorated general 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 ...

Military career

Naqvi joined the Pakistan Army in 1966 during the war with India and was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 1966, graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy's 37th long course.

Military promotion

After receiving his commission Naqvi rose quickly through the ranks. He became a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

only five years after passing out from the Military Academy. As a major he held a number of posts, the most notable being the brigade major of an infantry brigade, even though he was a part of the artillery corps. Later, he graduated from the highly esteemed Command and Staff College in Quetta.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Naqvi was stationed in

Shakargarh Shakargarh ( ur, ), the capital of Shakargarh Tehsil, is a city in the north-eastern part of Narowal District in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It borders Jammu, India to the north and Sialkot to the west Its literacy rate i ...

and Zafarwal area, which saw some of the heaviest fighting during the war in what has since become known as the

Battle of Barapind The Battle of Basantar also known as the Battle of Shakargarh or Battle of Barapind (December 4–16, 1971) was one of the vital battles fought as part of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the western sector of India. The Indian troops won a har ...

Dir operation of 1976

He also participated in a number of important military operations, the most prominent one being the Dir operation which was conducted in the

North Western Frontier Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

of Pakistan. After this he was promoted to the rank of

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 colone ...

and was transferred to the newly formed Army Air Defence corps.

Army Air Defence commander

Between 1980–81, Naqvi commanded a Light Air Defence Unit and this unit was the first unit of Air Defence which was inspected by Quaid-e-Azam before being promoted two ranks to become a brigadier. In this position, Naqvi was placed in command of the largest brigade of the Pakistan Army. Later, he commanded a number of air defence brigades, as well as studying at the National Defence University in Islamabad, from where he passed out with honours. Following this Naqvi took command of an Air Defence Brigade in Karachi. In 1995 he became commander of an Army Air Defence Division.

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