General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sher Mohammad Karimi (born November 11, 1945) was the Chief of Army Staff in the Military of Afghanistan. An ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

, Karimi was born in Khost Province of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. After the 1978

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...

in Afghanistan, Karimi was arrested and incarcerated by the Khalq faction of the PDPA communist party because of his Western education. He was employed as a director during Dr. Mohammad Najibullah Government in ministry of defence. Unlike many of his communist colleagues and the majority of the Afghan officer corps, Karimi had never received training in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was eventually forced into exile in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

until the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001. Karimi returned to his special-operations roots at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in February 2010. Previously, he served as the Chief of Operations for the Afghan Ministry of Defense."Footage shows insurgents with U.S. ammo" Accessed at: http://www.afghanemb-canada.net/en/news_bulletin/2009/Nov/10/index.php

Education

Karimi isrban High School in

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

, and English. He received his primary education at Sa, followed by a Military High School in Kabul. * National Military Academy of Afghanistan in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

**Kabul Commando Course (C) Kabulst **CGSC (Staff Course A) Kabul *

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

in the United Kingdom *

** Infantry Advance Course, Ranger course, Special Forces Course. Airborne Course (USA) *Counter Insurgency and Intel Courses (India) ** NDC (India) *Commando Course (Egypt) *Near East and South Asia Strategic Studies. NESA.NDU (USA) Assignments: **Platoon Commander, Commando BN, Company Commander, XO Battalion **Battalion Commander **Adjutant Guard Brigade **G3 Division **DG2 Central Corps **DCS for Mobilization and Organization **Special Assistant to CoS and head of the Advisory Board **Deputy Chairman for DDR **G3 ANA – Chief Operations

References

External links

Living people Pashtun military personnel 1945 births Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Afghan military officers National Defence College, India alumni {{Afghanistan-mil-bio-stub