XI Corps
Badge of Pakistan Army
Active1975; 49 years ago (1975)
Country Pakistan
Branch Pakistan Army
TypeCorps
RoleManeuver and combined arms oversight.
Size~45,000 approximately
(Though this may vary as units are rotated)
HQ/GarrisonPeshawar Cantonment, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan
Nickname(s)Peshawar Corps[1]
Colors IdentificationRed, white and black
   
Anniversaries1975
EngagementsAfghanistan conflict

Civil war in Afghanistan

Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes

DecorationsMilitary Decorations of Pakistan Military
Commanders
CommanderLt-Gen. Hassan Hayat
Notable
commanders		Gen. M. A. Beg
Lt-Gen. Masood Aslam
Lt-Gen. Fazle Haq
Lt-Gen. A. J. Aurakzai
Lt-Gen.Faiz Hameed
Insignia
War Flag
Maneuver Corps of the Pakistan Army
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V Corps XII Corps

The XI Corps is a field corps of the Pakistan Army, headquartered in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.: 168 [2][3]

It has the area of responsibility and to protect the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region, which has seen active military actions in the continuous Afghan conflict since its establishment in 1975.: 10–11 [4]

Overview

Formation and war service

As part of the major reorganization of the Pakistani military in 1974, the XI Corps was one of three corps that were formed to strengthened the national defenses to protect the north–south links from the incursions and secret raids coming from the Afghan National Army.: 119 [5][3] It was followed by V Corps stationed in South, having headquartered in Peshawar Cantonment with Lt-Gen. Majeed Malik becoming its first commander in 1975.: vii [6][7]

The XI Corps structure is based on 7th Inf. Div. and the 9th Inf. Div. with the armored, engineering, and signal brigades and elements of the Frontier Corps being its part.: 148–149 [8]

Similar to the X Corps, the XI Corps has an area of expertise in mountain warfare, and sometimes, it is included in the Northern Command— though it is the X Corps that leads the Northern Command overall.: 309–311 [9]

Due to its deployment in sensitive border areas and mission parameters to prevent Afghan Army or insurgents' adventures in western fronts, the XI Corps has seen more military actions against the former Soviet Army, the former Afghan National Army and then the insurgents than any of Pakistan's maneuver strike corps deployed in other fronts since the 1980.: 64–65 [10]

Structure

Based on the known information to the public release, the order of battle (ORBAT) is subject to troops rotation based on a strategic calculations by the Pakistani war strategists.[6]

Although, the XI Corps has permanent infantry divisions with engineering and signal brigades in its support, the XI Corps has received reinforcements from local law enforcement agencies, army's special forces, and the elements of the Frontier Corps during the heights of the military operations in the War on terror theater.[10] The XI corps is based in the following areas:

Structure of XI Corps
Corps Corps HQ Corps Commander Assigned Units Formation Badge Unit HQ
XI Corps Peshawar Lt. Gen Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat
 7th Infantry Division Miramshah
9th Infantry Division Kohat
Independent Armoured Brigade Nowshera
Independent Engineering Brigade U/I Location
Independent Signal Brigade U/I Location

List of Commanders XI Corps

Lieutenant-General

Name Start of Term End of Term
Majeed Malik April 1975 March 1976
Sawar Khan March 1976 January 1978
Fazle Haq January 1978 March 1980
Chaudhri Abdul Majid March 1980 April 1984
Muhammad Iqbal April 1984 October 1985
Mirza Aslam Beg October 1985 January 1987
Ahmad Kamal Khan January 1987 February 1989
Rehm Dil Bhatti February 1989 September 1990
Farrakh Khan September 1990 August 1991
Ayaz Ahmad August 1991 May 1994
Mumtaz Gul May 1994 October 1996
Saeed uz Zafar October 1996 March 2000
Imtiaz Shaheen March 2000 April 2001
Ehsan ul Haq April 2001 October 2001
Ali Jan Aurakzai October 2001 March 2004
Safdar Hussain March 2004 September 2005
Mohammad Hamid Khan September 2005 April 2007
Masood Aslam, April 2007 April 2010
Asif Yasin Malik April 2010 December 2011
Khalid Rabbani December 2011 October 2014
Hidayat Ur Rehman October 2014 December 2016
Nazir Ahmed Butt December 2016 October 2018
Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood October 2018 November 2019
Nauman Mehmood November 2019 November 2021
Faiz Hameed November 2021 8 August 2022
Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat 8 August 2022 present

References

  1. ^ "Peshawar corps commander inspects highway construction in Mohmand". Daily Times.
  2. ^ Fair, C. Christine (2010). Pakistan: Can the United States Secure an Insecure State?. Rand Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-4807-3. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b "XI Corps". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  4. ^ Markey, Daniel Seth (2008). Securing Pakistan's Tribal Belt. Council on Foreign Relations. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-87609-414-3. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  5. ^ Gujral, Santokh Singh (1988). Pakistan Under Third Military President. Gujral Printers. p. 190. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b Farooq, Talat (1 July 2016). US-Pakistan Relations: Pakistan's Strategic Choices in the 1990s. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-35849-7. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  7. ^ Alam, Dr Shah (1 July 2012). Pakistan Army: Modernisation, Arms Procurement and Capacity Building. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-81411-79-7. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  8. ^ Pakistan Intelligence, Security Activities and Operations Handbook - Strategic Information and Developments. Lulu.com. August 2013. ISBN 978-1-4387-3722-5. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  9. ^ Nawaz, Shuja (10 April 2020). The Battle for Pakistan: The Bitter US Friendship and a Tough Neighbourhood. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-4205-9. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  10. ^ a b Yusuf, Moeed (18 February 2014). Pakistan's Counterterrorism Challenge. Georgetown University Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-62616-045-3. Retrieved 26 November 2023.

Further reading

External links

Pakistan Armed Forces
Pakistan Army
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