ISLAMABAD (TNS) The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) is an important post for the armed forces of Pakistan, which ensures coordination and command among all the forces. The aim of this post is to improve effective cooperation and joint operations between the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The post of CDF in Pakistan was established in 2025, under which the Army Chief has also been appointed as CDF. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has been appointed for this post, who is the first Chief of Defence Forces in the history of Pakistan. The post of CDF exists in various countries around the world, such as India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. The post aims to unify the military leadership and improve joint operations.
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir gave a blunt message to Afghanistan, saying that the Afghan Taliban government will have to choose between Fitnatul Khawarij or Pakistan, while warning India not to fall prey to any self-deception or presumption, next time Pakistan’s response will be even swifter and more severe.
. Addressing officers of the three armed forces during a ceremony at the General Headquarters (GHQ), Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said that the fundamental change in the new Defence Forces Headquarters is historic.
. The Field Marshal said that due to the growing threats, the three armed forces should work with a unified system. In view of the growing and changing threats, multi-domain operations should be further improved under the unified system of the three forces. He further said that the establishment of the Defence Forces Headquarters is a necessary step towards this change. Each service will maintain its uniqueness for its operational preparedness. The Defence Forces Headquarters will coordinate the operations of the services. The three forces will maintain their internal autonomy and organisational structure. The Field Marshal warned India not to be a victim of any self-deception or presumption; next time, Pakistan’s response will be even swifter and more severe. Referring to Afghanistan, the Army Chief said that a message has been sent to the Taliban regime that there is no option but to choose either Fitnatul Khawarij or Pakistan. He further said that Pakistan is a peace-loving country but will not allow anyone to set fire to its territorial integrity. Everyone should know that the concept of Pakistan is invincible. Pakistan has been protected by the strong determination of the warriors full of faith and a united nation. Earlier, after being appointed as the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir was presented with a guard of honour. A guard of honour was presented by all three armed forces at the General Headquarters (GHQ).
According to details, after being appointed as the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was presented with a guard of honour at the GHQ in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf and Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar were also present at the ceremony.
The notification of the nomination of Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir as CDF was issued on Friday, in what is being described as the biggest reshuffle in the military command since the 1970s.
Under the new arrangement, operational, administrative and strategic powers have been consolidated into a single position, which was established under Article 243 of the Constitution through the 27th Amendment. The amendment also abolished the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which resulted in the dissolution of the tri-services coordination system established since 1976 and the transfer of the joint command to the CDF.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Field Marshal Munir on his historic appointment and praised his courageous and heroic leadership during the 4-day military standoff with India in May.
After the conflict, the Army Chief was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal during this period to lead the armed forces. Field Marshal Munir was appointed Army Chief on November 29, 2022, and became the 17th Army Chief to take command of the Pakistan Army. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had sent the summary of the appointment of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces to the Presidency after approving it. According to the summary, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has become the Chief of Army Staff as well as Chief of Defence Forces, and this appointment is for a period of five years. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir is the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also approved a two-year extension in the tenure of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu. This extension will be effective upon the completion of his current five-year term in March 2026. The armed forces of Pakistan have three branches: Army, Navy, and Air Force. These forces ensure the country’s defence strategy and face various challenges. Among the armed forces of Pakistan, the Pakistan Army is the country’s land forces, which participates in various operations and missions. The Pakistan Navy is the country’s naval forces, which protects the maritime borders. The Pakistan Air Force is the country’s air force, which participates in air defence and operations. The armed forces of Pakistan have participated in various wars and operations, including the 1947 war, the 1965 war, and the 1971 war, the 1999 war, and the 2025 war. Pakistan also attributes the increasing attacks by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the country to the militants’ possession of modern American weapons. Pakistan has said on several occasions that the Afghan Taliban are providing weapons left in Afghanistan by the US to the TTP, which is using them in attacks against Pakistan. A United Nations report in February this year also revealed that, despite Pakistan’s pressure, the Afghan Taliban are fully supporting the TTP and are also providing them with modern weapons for attacks in Pakistan. The report said that despite the arrival of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, there has been no change in the capabilities of the TTP fighters in Afghanistan, while the TTP attacks in Pakistan have increased after the arrival of the Afghan Taliban. The report said that the Afghan Taliban continues to provide logistical and operational cooperation with the TTP. The Afghan Taliban established new training centres in Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost and Paktika during this period. The Taliban government in Afghanistan has been denying these allegations. The Taliban government has maintained that they do not allow its territory to be used against any other country. According to them, terrorism is an internal problem of Pakistan. In March this year, President Trump, while calling the US withdrawal from Afghanistan shameful, also talked about bringing back the American weapons and military equipment left behind during this period and preventing the growing extremism in the region. A spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Office had said that there has been deep cooperation and strong relations between Pakistan and the US on the issue of counter-terrorism, and this is an ongoing process, and it is not something that can be affected by a single incident.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said that we support the US President’s idea of bringing back military equipment from Afghanistan, but this is a mutual matter between Afghanistan and the United States. The Foreign Office spokesperson said, “Our concern is that these weapons have been found to be used by terrorists in their extremist activities inside Pakistan. We have raised this issue before. If the US makes any effort to return these weapons, it will be helpful for overall regional security.” The US government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has said in his latest report that the US spent $144 billion on the reconstruction of Afghanistan during the 20-year-long Afghan war. But according to the report, during the abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, US and coalition forces left behind billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment, which is now a key part of the Taliban government’s defence structure. According to the report, the US left more than seven billion dollars worth of weapons in Afghanistan, while 2,450 US troops were killed and more than 20,000 were injured during the Afghan war. The US spent billions of dollars in Afghanistan to strengthen civil infrastructure and the Afghan National Security Forces. But due to the US’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, billions of dollars of military equipment were left behind. According to the report, the US spent $31.2 billion on the infrastructure, military equipment and transport of the Afghan National Forces over 20 years. According to the report, the US has provided 96,000 ground combat vehicles and more than 51,000 light tactical vehicles to the Afghan forces. The US has provided 23,825 high-mobility multipurpose vehicles and 900 armoured combat vehicles. The US has provided more than 427,000 weapons and more than 17,000 night vision helmet devices, and 162 aircraft. The report also states that before the Afghan Taliban took control of Kabul, the Afghan forces had 162 American-made warplanes, of which 131 were usable. The report, citing the US Department of Defence, says that the US has left military equipment worth about seven billion dollars in Afghanistan. According to the report, American taxpayers provided this money, which is now being used by the Afghan Taliban. Videos released of recent clashes between the Taliban government and Pakistani forces show that the Taliban forces have used mostly light weapons, with very few signs of heavy and long-range weapons. Military experts also confirm that the majority of the weapons used by the Taliban forces are light and semi-heavy weapons. According to reports by the US Special Inspector General for Reconstruction and the country’s Ministry of Defence, over 1.6 million light and heavy weapons and various military equipment were provided to the former government during the 20 years in Afghanistan, of which about 70 per cent or more than 1 million weapons ended up in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The light weapons currently in the hands of the Taliban government’s army include mostly Kalashnikovs, American M16, M4, and M29 light machine guns. These include heavy machine guns like the Pika M2 and M240, grenade launchers, as well as rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles like the RPG Seven and AT Four. According to a Taliban commander, in recent clashes, “night vision goggles and laser-equipped weapons have been effective in night attacks.” Experts say that the weapons left by the US in Afghanistan are not only in the hands of the Afghan Taliban, but have also been sold on the black market.Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir says that “Pakistan’s situation is improving and the country will now fly upwards.” Government ministers, heads of armed forces and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir were also present at the dinner given in honour of the President of Kyrgyzstan at the Presidential Palace. At this dinner, Field Marshal Asim Munir had an informal conversation with the journalists present there. The Field Marshal had said that everything is fine in the country. “Everything is very clear, and the situation in Pakistan is improving, and the country will soar from here.”
This was his first statement after Field Marshal Asim Munir’s appointment as the Chief of Defence Forces, which was published by the Pakistani media. After the notification issued by the Presidency on Thursday, speculations and rumours that had been going on across the country for the past several days regarding the appointment of Field Marshal Asim Munir as the Chief of Defence Forces had died down. After the summary sent by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari had approved the appointment of Field Marshal Asim Munir as the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces. According to a statement issued by the Presidency, the term of service of Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is five years. After the issuance of this notification, the term of service of Field Marshal Asim Munir will end in 2030. The notification was issued on December 4, 2025. And accordingly, Field Marshal Asim Munir will be the Chief of Defence Forces and Army Chief of Pakistan for the next five years. General Asim Munir was appointed Chief of Army Staff in November 2022. But then, after the change in Pakistan’s Army Act, the tenure of the Army Chief was increased from three years to five years. Under which his tenure as Army Chief was to end in November 2027. Now, after the 27th Amendment, the Army Chief also has the additional post of Chief of Defence Forces, and under the notification, he will be the Chief of Defence Forces and Army Chief for the next five years. The Prime Minister congratulated Field Marshal Asim Munir on his appointment and said that ‘the country’s defence will further improve and this is in line with modern requirements.’ He said that ‘all institutions will work together for the defence, progress and prosperity of Pakistan.’Pakistan has maintained that the TTP is using American weapons. The US President has talked about taking back Bagram Airport, but it will not be possible for them to take back these weapons worth billions of dollars. When the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, a lot of weapons were smuggled into Pakistan. The weapons that the fighters of the TTP are seen brandishing are American-made. Pakistan has no option on this issue. ‘It is not possible to take back these weapons from the TTP, the Afghan Taliban consider American weapons ‘spoils’ and they will ‘never return them to the US.’Half a million weapons acquired by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold or smuggled to other groups. While the United Nations believes some of these weapons have fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda-linked groups, the Taliban took control of about 1 million weapons and military equipment after regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021. The stockpile of these weapons included American-made weapons, such as M4 and M16 rifles, as well as other older weapons held by Afghanistan that were left behind after decades of fighting. Most of them were supplied to the previous Afghan government. When the Taliban advanced in Afghanistan in 2021, many Afghan soldiers surrendered or abandoned their weapons and vehicles and fled. Some equipment was left behind by US forces. A 2023 UN report said the Taliban allowed local commanders to keep 20 per cent of seized US weapons, and the black market is flourishing as a result. The UN says that “there is a widespread practice of giving weapons as gifts between local commanders and fighters to consolidate power.” The black market is still a rich source of weapons for the Taliban. The number of weapons recorded by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SEGAR) is lower than the number recorded by our sources. But in a 2022 report, they admitted that they were unable to obtain accurate information. Over the years, various US departments and organisations have financed or provided the equipment. “Afghanistan is one of the largest sellers of military equipment in the world, you know why?” Trump said during the first cabinet meeting of the new administration. They are selling the equipment we left behind. After the withdrawal in 2021, the Pentagon claimed that the US equipment in Afghanistan was ineffective, but the Taliban has since built a capable army using US weapons and has gained an advantage over rival groups such as the National Resistance Front and the Islamic State Khorasan. Afghanistan has been a central player in the historical context of relations between Pakistan and the US. Whether it was the war fought in the name of jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the dictatorship of General Zia or the assistance provided against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the war on terror during the rule of General Musharraf, the relations between Pakistan and the United States were overshadowed by the events taking place in Afghanistan. Today, with Republican President Trump in power in the United States, a democratic system of government is prevalent in Pakistan. Amidst the increasing incidents of terrorism in the country, deteriorating relations with neighbouring countries, and other factors, US President Trump’s praise of Pakistan is nothing less than a breath of cool air for the government and the establishment. In his first address to Congress, US President Trump gave great importance to thanking Pakistan for helping to arrest the planner of a suicide attack on American soldiers at Kabul Airport in 2021. It should be noted that on August 26, 2021, two suicide bombers and armed men attacked the Abbey Gate of Kabul Airport, also known as the South Gate. Thousands of Afghans were also there at the time, trying to leave the country. The attack killed about 160 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also responded to President Trump’s gratitude for Pakistan’s cooperation, he said in a statement released on social media that “We thank US President Donald Trump for recognising and appreciating Pakistan’s role and support in counter-terrorism efforts in the region, and we will continue to partner closely with the United States for regional peace and stability.” At a time when President Trump is calling the US withdrawal from Afghanistan shameful and talking about bringing back the US weapons and military equipment left behind and preventing the growing extremism in the region, can Pakistan take advantage of this opportunity? The spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Office had said that there has been deep cooperation and strong ties between Pakistan and the United States on the issue of counter-terrorism, and this is an ongoing process, and it is not something that can be affected by a single incident. The spokesperson for the Foreign Office said that we support the idea of the US President bringing back military equipment from Afghanistan; however, Afghanistan and the United States are a mutual matter.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said, “Our concern is that these weapons have been found to be used by terrorists in their extremist activities inside Pakistan. We have raised this issue before. If the United States makes any effort to return these weapons, it will be helpful for overall regional security. It should be remembered that terrorist incidents have also increased in Pakistan in the last few years. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, Pakistan ranks second among 163 countries. According to the report, there has been a 45 per cent increase in terrorism-related incidents in the country. The number of terrorist attacks increased from 517 in 2023 to 1,099 in 2024.While the report also said that since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, there has been an increase in terrorist activities in Pakistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has carried out most of this increase. In such a situation, when relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are also tense, and Pakistan has repeatedly told the Taliban government that Afghan soil is being used against Pakistan, can American priorities, the growing threat of ISIS, the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the return of American weapons bring the two countries closer again? There are some aspects of the restoration of relations with Pakistan with the United States, such as the issue of counter-terrorism are no longer as important to the United States as before. In the past, the reason for this was that the United States was afraid that the Taliban might come to power, but when the United States decided in 2021 that it should reduce its losses and expenses and it does of whether the Taliban came to power, the importance of counter-terrorism decreased. If the extremist organisations in Afghanistan are getting stronger, in the context of the presence of American weapons, Pakistan’s closeness to the United States may theoretically be possible. The way extremist organisations have become stronger in Afghanistan can provide the basis for long-term cooperation between the United States and Pakistan. In this regard, the American weapons left there at the time of the American withdrawal are also important, which not only went to the Afghan Taliban but also ended up in the hands of extremist organisations by being sold on the black market there. It should be noted that President Trump has indicated that he wants to withdraw his weapons and other equipment from Afghanistan. When Afghanistan is once again becoming a stronghold of extremist organisations, it is clear that the United States and Pakistan will come closer to each other on the issue of counter-terrorism. As the threats of extremism are not only increasing, but also the strengthening of ISIS in the region is complicating matters, the United States is also realising that counter-terrorism will have to be included in its global priorities again, and in such a situation, Pakistan can keep itself relevant in this situation. Pakistan has always supported the United States in Afghanistan. The Trump administration’s desire to withdraw weapons and military equipment from Afghanistan could open up the possibility of cooperation between the two countries’ militaries.
