The XI Corps is a field

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, headquartered in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...

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# ...

. It has the area of responsibility and to protect the

region, which has seen active military actions in the continuous

Afghan conflict The Afghan conflict (; ) is a term that refers to the series of events that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970s. Early instability followed the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the large ...

since its establishment in 1975.

Overview

Formation and war service

As part of the major reorganization of the Pakistani military in 1974, the XI Corps was one of three corps that were formed to strengthened the national defenses to protect the north–south links from the incursions and secret raids coming from the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

. It was followed by

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Arm ...

stationed in South, having headquartered in Peshawar Cantonment with Lt-Gen. Majeed Malik becoming its first commander in 1975. The XI Corps structure is based on 7th Inf. Div. and the 9th Inf. Div. with the armored, engineering, and signal brigades and elements of the

Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps (, reporting name: FC) are a group of four paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's b ...

being its part. Similar to the X Corps, the XI Corps has an area of expertise in

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

, and sometimes, it is included in the Northern Command— though it is the X Corps that leads the Northern Command overall. Due to its deployment in sensitive border areas and mission parameters to prevent Afghan Army or insurgents' adventures in western fronts, the XI Corps has seen more military actions against the former

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, the former Afghan National Army and then the

insurgents An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

than any of Pakistan's field corps deployed in other fronts since the 1980.

Structure

Based on the known information to the public release, the

order of battle Order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed force. Various abbr ...

(ORBAT) is subject to troops rotation based on a strategic calculations by the Pakistani war strategists. Although, the XI Corps has permanent infantry divisions with engineering and signal brigades in its support, the XI Corps has received reinforcements from local law enforcement agencies, army's special forces, and the elements of the Frontier Corps during the heights of the military operations in the War on terror theater. The XI corps is based in the following areas:

List of Commanders XI Corps

References

External links