Chief of Staff of the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces | |
---|---|
د افغانستان د ملي اردو لوی درستیز | |
since 7 September 2021 | |
Ministry of Defense | |
Reports to | Minister of Defense |
Seat | Kabul |
Appointer | Supreme Leader |
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces[1] (Pashto: د افغانستان د ملي اردو لوی درستیز) is the highest-ranking military officer in the military of Afghanistan (currently the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces), who is responsible for maintaining the operational command of the military.
Abdul Karim Mustaghni was army chief of staff until the 1973 overthrow of the monarchy.[2] Under the rule of Hafizullah Amin, his brother in law Mohammed Yaqub served as Chief of the General Staff until being executed by Soviet-Parcham forces in December of 1979. In the late 1980s, during the communist regime, Nazar Mohammad served as army chief of staff, followed by Shahnawaz Tanai, Both from the Khalq faction of the PDPA[3] (December 1984 – March 1990), who was succeeded by Mohammed Asif Delawar following the 1990 coup attempt, which was led by Tanai.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
Major general Abdul Karim Mustaghni (July 11 1911–January 13 2004) |
? | 1973 | ? | Army |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
Major general Ghulam Haidar Rasuli (1919–28 April 1978) |
1975 | April 1978 | ? | Army |
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
Colonel general Mohammad Aslam Watanjar (1946–24 November 2000) |
1978 | 1 April 1979 | ? | Army | |||
Lieutenant general Mohammed Yakub (?–27 December 1979) |
1 April 1979 | 27 December 1979 | ? | Army | |||
Lieutenant general Baba Jan zahid |
? | January 1984 | ? | Army | |||
Colonel general Nazar Mohammad (1935–1998) |
January 1984 | December 4 1984 | ? | Air Force | |||
Lieutenant general Shahnawaz Tanai (1950–2022) |
December 1984 | March 1990 | ? | Army | [4] | ||
general Mohammed Asif Delawar |
March 1990 | 1992 | ? | Army |
No. | Portrait | Chief of General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (born 1961) | Lieutenant general8 March 2002 | 30 June 2010 | 8 years, 114 days | Afghan National Army | [5][6] | |
2 | General Sher Mohammad Karimi (born 1945) | 30 June 2010 | 22 May 2015 | 4 years, 326 days | Afghan National Army | [5][7] | |
3 | Qadam Shah Shahim (born 1962) | General22 May 2015 | 24 April 2017 | 1 year, 337 days | Afghan National Army | [5][8] | |
4 | Mohammad Sharif Yaftali | Lieutenant general26 April 2017 | 13 March 2019 | 1 year, 323 days | Afghan National Army | [5][9] | |
5 | Bismillah Waziri | Lieutenant general13 March 2019 | 7 July 2020 | 1 year, 116 days | Afghan National Army | [5] | |
6 | Yasin Zia | Lieutenant general7 July 2020 | 19 June 2021 | 347 days | Afghan National Army | [10] | |
7 | Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai | Lieutenant general19 June 2021 | 11 August 2021 | 53 days | Afghan National Army | [11] | |
8 | Hebatullah Alizai | Lieutenant general11 August 2021 | 15 August 2021 | 4 days | Afghan National Army | [12][13] |
No. | Portrait | Chief of General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Qari Fasihuddin | 7 September 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 76 days* | Islamic National Army | [14] |
* Incumbent's time in office last updated: 22 November 2024.