ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Thursday that Major General Babar Iftikhar would replace Major General Asif Ghafoor as the head of military’s media wing.
Ghafoor, who became one of the most recognizable faces of the country’s armed forces, has been transferred to Okara as the General Officer Commanding.
The outgoing DG ISPR thanked everyone he “remained associated with during the tenure.”
“My very special thanks to Media all across. Can’t thank enough fellow Pakistanis for their love and support,” Ghafoor wrote in a Twitter post, adding: “Best wishes to the new DG ISPR for his success.”

Alhamdulillah.
Thanks to everyone I have remained associated with during the tenure. My very special thanks to Media all across. Can’t thank enough fellow Pakistanis for their love and support.
Best wishes to new DG ISPR for his success.#PakArmedForcesZindabad#PakistanZindabad

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) January 16, 2020

According to the local media, Major General Iftikhar graduated from the National Defense University and the Royal Command and Staff College Jordan.
He has significant command experience and has served in North Waziristan.
A highly decorated officer, Ghafoor also spent time in conflict zones, though he became a household name as an officer who expressed the military’s viewpoint on burning issues.
Last year, he announced on the military’s official social media account that Indian fighter jets had breached Pakistan’s airspace but were immediately chased out by the Pakistan Air Force.
The next day, Ghafoor stood in front of the television cameras to apprise everyone about the aerial dogfight between India and Pakistan near the Line of Control in Kashmir in which an Indian fighter aircraft was shot down and the pilot was captured.
Under his leadership, the ISPR was also praised by the Indian cybersecurity chief who maintained in December 2019 that Pakistan had an upper hand in information warfare with India since it was presenting its narrative more effectively to the world at large.
Ghafoor was also quite open while expressing the military’s institutional concerns when a special court sentenced a former army chief, General (r) Pervez Musharraf, to death in a high treason case for subverting the constitution of the country.