X Corps (Pakistan)

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X Corps
Badge of 10 Corps, Rawalpindi
Active	1974 – present
Country	Pakistan
Allegiance	Pakistan Army
Branch	Active Duty
Type	Army Corps
Role	Combined arms formation Tactical headquarters element
Size	150,000 Troops
HQ/Command Control Headquarter	Rawalpindi, Punjab Province
Nickname(s)	X Corps The Pindi Corps Rawalpindi Corps[1]
Colors Identification	Red, white and yellow
Engagements	Siachen conflict Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 1999 Pakistani coup d'état
Decorations	Military Decorations of Pakistan Military
Commanders
Corps Commander	Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza
Notable commanders	Lt Gen Jahan Dad Khan Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Gen Tariq Majid Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar Lt Gen Jamshed Gulzar Kiani Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed Lt Gen Ali Kuli Khan Khattak Lt Gen Ghulam Muhammad Malik Lt Gen Aftab Ahmad Khan Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa
Insignia
War flag

The X Corps is a corps of the Pakistan Army, currently assigned in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is one of two corps that are currently active in Kashmir. One of its most important brigades, the 111th Infantry Brigade in Rawalpindi, is assigned Presidential Guard duties along with ceremonial duties for foreign dignitaries arriving in Pakistan.The current commander of this corps is Lt. Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza.^[2]

History[]

The X Corps was raised in 1974 by Lt. General Aftab Ahmad Khan. Headquartered in Rawalpindi, it is responsible for operations in some areas of Kashmir.^[3] Before that, all formations in Kashmir were controlled directly from GHQ. As an ode to Lt. General Aftab Ahmad Khan, the insignia of the X Corps features a Rising Sun or Aftab (in Urdu) with 10 rays extruding from it.

Serving on the Line of Control[]

In 1974, as today, the Indian and Pakistani forces face each other across the Line of Control (LoC), and there are often exchanges of fire, and sometime full-scale battles. Since 1974, the formation's primary occupation has been to protect Pakistani interests on the LoC.

Siachen conflict[]

In 1984, the Pakistan Army was involved in a major skirmish with the Indian Army in the northernmost part of the disputed region of Kashmir. Under the command of Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, the X Corps was put into action on the highest battlefield in the world.

Kargil War[]

In 1999, under the command of Lt Gen Mahmud Ahmed, the conflict over Kargil saw the corps enter action, in Kargil itself, and all along the LoC. Over several weeks in June 1999, the entire corps was engaged for the first time in its history. During the fighting, Havildar Lalak Jan, a trooper of the corps would earn the Nishan-e-Haider.

Structure[]

X Corps has following units under its operational control:- 5 infantry divisions, 1 infantry brigade, 1 armoured brigade, 1 artillery brigade, 1 signal brigade and 1 engineering brigade.

Structure of X Corps
Corps	Corps HQ	Corps Commander	Assigned Units	Formation Badge	Unit HQ
X Corps	Rawalpindi, Punjab	Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza	12th Infantry Division		Murree, Punjab
			19th Infantry Division		Mangla, Azad Kashmir
			23rd Infantry Division		Jhelum, Punjab
			Force Command Northern Areas		Gilgit
			34th Light Infantry Division		Chilas
			111th Infantry Brigade		Rawalpindi, Punjab
			8th Independent Armoured Brigade		Khairan, Punjab
			Independent Artillery Brigade		N/A
			Independent Signal Brigade		N/A
			Independent Engineering Brigade		N/A

List of corps commanders[]

#	Post	Name	Start of tenure	End of tenure
1	Lieutenant-General	Aftab Ahmad Khan	March 1973	March 1976
2		Faiz Ali Chishti	March 1976	March 1980
3		Jahan Dad Khan	March 1980	April 1984
4		Zahid Ali Akbar Khan	April 1984	May 1987
5		Imran Ullah Khan	May 1987	June 1991
6		Ghulam Muhammad Malik	June 1991	October 1995
7		Ali Kuli Khan Khattak	October 1995	May 1997
8		Saleem Haider	May 1997	October 1998
9		Mahmud Ahmed	October 1998	October 1999
10		Jamshed Gulzar Kiani	November 1999	October 2001
11		Syed Arif Hassan	October 2001	October 2003
12		Ashfaq Parvez Kayani [1]	October 2003	August 2004
13		Salahuddin Satti	October 2004	November 2006
14		Tariq Majid [2]	November 2006	October 2007
15		Mohsin Kamal	October 2007	October 2008
16		Tahir Mahmud	October 2008	May 2010
17		Khalid Nawaz Khan	May 2010	August 2013
18		Qamar Javed Bajwa [3]	August 2013	October 2015
19		Malik Zafar Iqbal	October 2015	December 2016
20		Nadeem Raza [4]	December 2016	September 2018
22		Bilal Akbar	September 2018	September 2019
23		Azhar Abbas	September 2019	September 2021
24		Sahir Shamshad Mirza	September 2021	Present

Note

1.^ Later promoted to Chief of Army Staff

2.^ Later promoted to Chief of Joint Staff Committee

References[]

Further reading[]

• Brain Cloughley, A History of Pakistan Army