President approves military awards for armed forces personnel

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved a large number of military awards for officers and personnel of the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force on the occasion of Independence Day, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The awards include 23 Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), 112 Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military), 128 Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military), six Tamgha-i-Basalat and 32 Imtiazi Asnad, the military’s media wing stated.

The president approved the awards on recommendations forwarded by the government.

Among those conferred with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) are 17 major generals of the Pakistan Army, three rear admirals of the Pakistan Navy and three air vice marshals of the Pakistan Air Force.

The recipients include Maj Gen Saad Al Abd, Maj Gen Fahham Bin Sultan, Maj Gen Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, Maj Gen Ahmed Jawad, Maj Gen Adnan Sultan, Maj Gen Tajdeed Mumtaz, Maj Gen Bilal Sarfraz Khan, Maj Gen Usman Farooq Kiyani, Maj Gen Khurram Shabbir, Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed Anwar Khan, Maj Gen Faisal Saud, Maj Gen Abid Mazhar, Maj Gen Shahryar Munir Hafiez, Maj Gen Shehryar Qureshi, Maj Gen Waqar Muzaffar, Maj Gen Nasir Ali and Maj Gen Muhammad Farid.

The Navy recipients of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) are Rear Admiral Muhammad Shahnawaz Khan, Rear Admiral Asim Sohail Malik and Rear Admiral Sohail Ahmad Azmie, while Air Vice Marshal Farooq Zamir Afridi, Air Vice Marshal Hakim Raza and Air Vice Marshal Ahmad Junaid have received the honour from the Pakistan Air Force.

The Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) has been awarded to a large number of Army officers, including brigadiers and colonels, as well as senior officers of the Navy and Air Force.

The list includes officers from various branches and formations of the armed forces, including infantry, artillery, aviation, engineering, signals, medical, logistics and other specialist services. Several women officers have also been recognised, including Brig Syeda Shazia Musawir, Brig Ayesha Abubakar Mitha, Col Uzma Naeem, Col Munawar Begum and a number of officers from the Army’s Armed Forces Nursing Service.

The Navy recipients include Commodores Syed Ghulam Akbar Shah Bokhari, Attique Ahmed Khan, Fazal Ur Rehman, Javed Latif Khan, Malik Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Qamar Nawaz, Aatif Gul, Muhammad Haroon, Syed Moeez Ul Haque, Muhammad Azeem Abbasi, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Yasir Tahir, Rameez Niaz and Adnan Laghari.

The Pakistan Air Force recipients include Air Commodores Hassan Khalid, Muhammad Nasir Zia, Rizwan Waqar Satti, Saqib Athar Dil, Muhammad Junaid Maqbool Malik, Muhammad Hassan Tufail, Shahzad Nawab, Muhammad Asif Bhatti, Muhammad Jawad Azim, Imran Hussain Usmani, Syed Ali Imran, Muhammad Omer Amin, Khaild Saeed, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Hanif Wazeer Khan, S Anwaar Hussain Kazmi, Rafat Masood, Shehzad Ali, Hammad Durrani, Zahid Maqbool Ahmad and Muhammad Akbar Khokhar.

The Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military) has been conferred on officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force, including lieutenant colonels, majors, commanders, group captains and wing commanders.

The recipients include officers serving in combat and support branches, aviation, engineering, signals, artillery, medical, logistics, nursing and other specialised fields.

Six naval personnel have also been awarded the Tamgha-i-Basalat. They are Captain Shujaat Abbas Raza, Commander Ali Muhammad, Lieutenant Commander Salman Javed, Lieutenant Commander Iftikhar Ahmad, Viladat Hussain and Muhammad Ramzan.

The Imtiazi Sanad has been awarded to 32 officers and personnel from the Navy and Air Force, including Rear Admiral Shahid Wasif, several senior naval officers, and officers holding the ranks of group captain, wing commander, squadron leader and flight lieutenant in the Pakistan Air Force.

The President House on Friday confirmed that President Zardari had approved multiple summaries sent by the prime minister, including military awards for 1,172 personnel of the armed forces and civil armed forces.

The President’s House had also announced that Zardari approved a 100-day special remission in the sentences of deserving prisoners on the occasion of Independence Day and Eid Milad-un-Nabi ﷺ, besides approving national awards for citizens associated with various fields.

Separately, the president approved the summoning of sessions of the National Assembly and Senate on August 17, with the National Assembly session scheduled for 5pm and the Senate session for 4pm.