Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik appointed as Pakistan spy agency ISI's new Director General
Sep 23, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], September 23 : Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik has been appointed as the new Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General, ARY News reported, quoting ISPR on Monday.
The newly appointed head of ISI, who succeeded Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, will assume command of the Pakistani intelligence agency on September 30.
Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik is currently serving as an Adjutant General at the general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The newly-appointed chief has previously led the Infantry Brigade in Waziristan and the Infantry Division in Balochistan in the past, reported ARY News.
Moreover, he also received a Sword of Honor in his course and served as the chief instructor at National Defence University (NDU), as well as an instructor at Command and Staff College Quetta, the ARY News report added.
Lieutenant General Malik is a graduate of Fort Leavenworth and the Royal College of Defence Studies.
The appointment of the new ISI chief comes one month after the probe took an unexpected turn after the former ISI chief Faiz Hameed's arrest when an iPhone discovered in Chakwal reportedly unveiled details of his relationship with Imran Khan.
On August 12, Pakistan's military announced that General Hameed had been arrested due to "multiple instances of violation" of the Army Act following his retirement in December 2022, according to Geo News.
The military further stated, "The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated, and Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed has been taken into military custody."
The Pakistani military explained that the action against the former ISI chief was in line with the orders of the Supreme Court, which in 2023 called for an investigation after a land development company named Top City filed a petition, Geo News reported. The company alleged that Hameed and his brother had acquired ownership of several properties and had even blackmailed the company's owner.