XII Corps (Pakistan)

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XII Corps
Quetta Core logo.svg
Badge of XII Corps
Active1984;41 years ago (1984)
CountryFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
BranchFlag of the Pakistani Army.svg  Pakistan Army
TypeXXX Corps
Role Maneuver/Deployment oversight.
Size~45,000 approximately
(Though this may vary as units are rotated)
HQ/Garrison Quetta Cantonment, Balochistan, Pakistan
Nickname(s)Quetta Corps [1] [2]
Southern Command:309–311 [3]
Colors IdentificationRed, white and black
   
Anniversaries1985
Engagements Balochistan Conflict

Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts

2024 Iran–Pakistan border skirmishes

Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes

Afghanistan conflict

War on Terror

Decorations Military Decorations of Pakistan Military
Commanders
Commander Lt-Gen. Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan
Notable
commanders
General K.S. Wynne
General Abdul Waheed
Lt-Gen. Sarfraz Ali
Lt-Gen.Asif Ghafoor
Insignia
Flag
Flag of Pakistan's XII Corps.jpg

The XII Corps is a field corps of the Pakistan Army currently headquartered in Quetta, Balochistan in Pakistan. [4]

Contents

With reserves, paramilitary, and other military formations supporting the XII Corps, the corps has an area of responsibility of Balochistan and oversees its mission of responsibility to protect as an army's regional formation in Pakistan's security apparatus known as the Southern Command.:309–311 [3]

History

Formations and war service

The Afghan and Iranian immigration to Pakistan and the Afghan Army's military raids in Chaman prompted the Army GHQ to form and raise the military formations to guard its western borders in 1984.:64 [5] The XII Corps was raised with its HQ in Quetta Cantonment as Lt-Gen. K.K. Afridi becoming its first commander in 1985. [4] [6] Its military engagement has been limited to the Balochistan conflict, which it mainly tackles through the Frontier Corps (paramilitary) and local police department. [4] [7]

Syed Zakir Ali Zaidi served as the corps commander in 1987-89. After handing over the corps to his successor he became president of the National Defence University, from 1 August 1989 to18 June 1990. [8]

Similar to the V Corps in Sindh, the XII Corps has an area of expertise in desert warfare, and oversees security operations together with the local law enforcement, mechanized divisions guarding the nation's desert and dune ranges, and paramilitary to ensure the national defenses of the Pakistan.:311 [3]

Together with the air force units, naval bases, marines camps, paramilitaries, army reserves, and air forces ranges, the XII Corps forms and leads the major regional formation in Pakistan's security spectrum known as the Southern Command. [7] :309–311 [3]

Structure

The XII Corps has not seen military action against the Indian Army (east) nor the Afghan National Army (west) but tackled counterinsurgency time to time which led to the troop rotations based on the strategic calculations. [4] The XII Corps has receives reinforcement in its missions on war on terror and is based on the known information publicly available:

Structure of XII Corps
CorpsCorps HQCorps CommanderAssigned UnitsUnit HQ
XII Corps Quetta Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan
US-O9 insignia.svg
33rd Infantry Division Khuzdar
41st Infantry Division Quetta
44th Light Infantry Division Gwadar
Independent Infantry Brigade Turbat
Independent Armoured Brigade Khuzdar
Independent Infantry Brigade Gwadar
Independent Engineer BrigadeU/I Location
Independent Signal BrigadeU/I Location

List of Commanders XII Corps

Lieutenant-General
OF-8 PakistanArmy.svg
US-O9 insignia.svg
Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan November 2023
Asif Ghafoor August 2022November 2023
Sarfraz Ali December 2020August 2022
Muhammad Waseem Ashraf September 2019December 2020
Asim Saleem Bajwa September 2017September 2019
Aamer RiazOctober 2015September 2017
Nasser Khan Janjua September 2013October 2015
Alam Khattak October 2011September 2013
Javed ZiaApril 2010October 2011
Khalid Shameem Wynne April 2007April 2010
Shahid HamidSeptember 2003October 2004
Abdul Qadir BalochOctober 2001September 2003
Mushtaq HussainOctober 1999October 2001
Tariq PervaizMay 1997October 1999
Saranjam Khan1995May 1997
Zia Ullah Khan January 19931995
Abdul Waheed Kakar August 1989January 1993
Syed Zakir Ali ZaidiMay 1987August 1989
Khushdil Khan Afridi 1985May 1987

See also

References

  1. "Bajwa made Quetta corps commander in reshuffle". Dawn .
  2. "Pakistan Army hands over model village in Mashkai to earthquake survivors". geo.tv.
  3. 1 2 3 4 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.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "XII Corps". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  5. Fair, C. Christine (25 April 2014). Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-989271-6 . Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  6. 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.
  7. 1 2 Rathore, Azad Singh (16 February 2021). Balochistan: The Heights of Oppression. Partridge Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5437-0664-2 . Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  8. "President". National Defence University, Islamabad. 1 Dec 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 30 Oct 2024.

Further reading