Pakistan army chief gets 3-year extension

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday extended the term of the country’s army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa for another three-year term, an official statement said.

Bajwa, who was due to retire in November this year, will now serve as the army chief until 2022, a statement from the Prime Minister House said.

“Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed Chief of Army Staff for another term of three years from the date of completion of current tenure. The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment,” the statement read.

He was appointed as the army chief on Nov. 29, 2016 by the then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for a three-year term.

His extension follows the spiraling tensions with longtime rival India after scrapping of the special rights of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, earlier this month.