The X 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 Pakistan Army, currently headquartered in Chaklala Cantonment,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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# ...

. Together with the I Corps, it has an area of responsibility to protect the

Kashmir region Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has sinc ...

— the side only which Pakistan administrates. With army reserves, paramilitary, and assigned to protect the presidency, the X Corps forms and leads an important formation in Pakistan' security spectrum, which is known as Northern Command. It is currently commanded by its commander, Lt-Gen. Shahid Imtiaz.

History

Formation and war service

After the 1971 conflict with India, the Pakistani military had to modify its organizational structure to meet parity with Indian Army. This eventually led to the establishing of the X Corps with Lieutenant-General Aftab Ahmad Khan becoming its first commander, with its headquarters in Chaklala Cantonment near Rawalpindi in 1974.X Corps
/ref> Unlike the I Corps, the X Corps has an area of expertise in

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

and

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 oversees security operations together with the local law enforcement, mountain divisions guarding the nation's mountain ranges, and paramilitary to ensure the national defenses of the Pakistan. By accumulating all the military elements, the X Corps leads a regional formation to ensure the defenses and national security under a command known as "Northern Command". The north–south regional formation, with X Corps leading the Northern Command, was formed by the Army GHQ working under then-army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez, only to address the Indian Army's Cold Start strategy. Its badge insignia, as an ode to Lt-Gen. Aftab Ahmad Khan, the insignia of the X Corps features a Rising Sun or ''Aftab'' (in Urdu) with 10 rays extruding from it. Due to its deployment in sensitive border areas and mission parameters to prevent Indian Army's adventures in northern fronts, the X Corps has seen more military actions against the Indian Army than any of Pakistan's maneuver corps deployed in other fronts.

Serving on the Line of Control

Since its deployment in 1974, the X Corps has faced the Indian Army across the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but ser ...

(LoC) and northern frontiers of Pakistan's borders. The X Corps has fought battles in

Siachen conflict The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts, between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conf ...

in 1984 and a border war with India in 1999. Since 1974, its primary mission has been to prevent and mitigate the threats of Indian Army's advancement in northern frontiers of Pakistan. Currently, Mujahid Force is mainly responsible for protecting and serving of Line of Control. Mujahid Force constituents of 29 units, Most of them serving in Azad Kashmir premises and some other areas of X Corps region. Currently, Brig. Tahir Ali Syed is serving as Director Mujahid Force and Lt. Gen Shahid Imtiaz is serving as the current Commandant Mujahid Force.

Structure

The X Corps oversees the operational control and command of the Force Command Northern Areas (a mountain warfare division), Mujahid Force, a reservist unit of the Army National Guards, and others battalions of the special forces. The X Corps structure is composed of five infantry division and one brigade of each of infantry brigade, armored, artillery, signal, and an engineering brigade. Additional reinforcement to provide support to X Corps comes from the other mountain divisions of the XI Corps, batteries of Army Air Defence Command, the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

's Northern Air Command and Navy's Northern Command that also includes the Pakistan Marines several battalions; it forms the joint military formation, known as Northern Command, which the X Corps leads to enforce national defenses of Pakistan on the northern front. Under the statue of Northern Command, the X Corps provides military support to civil armed forces and provincial governments in the northern fronts while protecting the territory and national interests of the Pakistan within the country.

History

Formation and war service

Serving on the Line of Control

Structure

List of commanders

References

Further reading