Nadeem Anjum

Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum is a three-star general in the Pakistan Army and is currently serving as the Director-General of the ISI since 20 November 2021.

Early life and education

Nadeem Anjum was born into a Punjabi Sheikh family. He hails from the village of Mohra Sheikhan located in Kauntrila, in the Gujar Khan Tehsil of Rawalpindi District.

A product of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Anjum is a graduate from the National Defence University (NDU) and later earned a master's degree from King's College, London, having also studied at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, USA, then serving as an instructor at the PMA, at the NDU as well at the Army Staff College.

He is known to enjoy running, basketball and cricket and is also considered to be an avid reader.

Military career

He was first commissioned in September 1988 in the 28th Punjab Regiment and is from the 77th PMA Long Course.

He served as the Inspector-General of the Frontier Corps in Balochistan from December 2016 to December 2018. For his role against the insurgency in Balochistan he eventually earned the title of Mohsin-e-Pakistan or benefactor of Pakistan.

He has also served as Corps Commander of the V Corps from December 2020 to October 2021.

DG-ISI

Appointment

At the beginning of October 2021 the Prime Minister's Office formally received three names from the COAS for the appointment of a new Director-General of the ISI, including Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali and Lt. Gen. Saqib Malik. Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum was appointed as DG ISI on 20 November 2021.

Press conference of October 2022

This marked the first time that the head of the ISI gave a live briefing or even addressed the media.

The pair addressed and tried to answer multiple issues that were taking place at the time, especially regarding Lettergate, Arshad Sharif's death, the failed assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the military's support of Shahbaz Sharif amidst the alleged involvement of General Bajwa towards Imran Khan's ouster, and Khan's Azadi March 2022.

Regarding the Lettergate affair, Anjum asserted that during the National Security Committee of Pakistan's meeting on the cypher, Anjum "categorically clarified" that there was "no evidence found" regarding a foreign conspiracy to oust the PTI-led government. However, in National Security Council meeting, cypher was found to be real as presented in the NSC meeting and a strong demarche was issued. Therefore, in the National Security Committee meeting on the cypher, both civil and military leadership jointly agreed that the cypher represented a "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan", and issued a demarche to the Acting US envoy in Islamabad in response.

Extension

In September 2023, Anjum's tenure as ISI chief was extended for one year.

Controversy

His appointment as Director-General of the ISI attracted controversy, due to the civilian government not being consulted, despite the appointment needing its approval. A deadlock ensued between the civil government and the military, leading to the civil government taking three weeks to approve Anjum’s appointment as Director-General.

Awards and decorations

Effective dates of promotion

References

External links

• ISI chief Nadeem Anjum in hot water over Pakistan Taliban attacks, Intelligence Online, February 17, 2023 (requires free registration)