Muhammad Yusaf Khan (; born February 10, 1948) was a senior general 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 ...

who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) from October 8, 2001 until October 7, 2004. Following the end of his 3-year term in October 2004, he was succeeded by General

Ahsan Saleem Hyat General Ahsan Saleem Hayat ( ; born 10 January 1948), is a retired senior officer of the Pakistan Army who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 2004 until his retirement in 2007. Prior to that, he served as the op ...

Military career

Yusaf Khan graduated from

Military College Jhelum Military College Jhelum (MCJ) is a feeder college to the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, Pakistan. The college is one of three military colleges in Pakistan; the others being Military College Murree and Military College Sui. History The c ...

(College No. 2642), He was commissioned in the

in 1966 in the 37th PMA Long Course and joined the Guides Cavalry. He served various command and staff posts including Commanding Officer Guides Cavalry, Commanding Officer of a Tank Battalion in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, Instructor at Command and Staff College, Chief of Staff of a Strike Corps, Commander of an armoured division, Chief of General Staff, and finally the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. Yusaf Khan was promoted to Lieutenant General in June 1998 and sent as the Military Secretary (MS) in the GHQ. Later on 29 October 1998, he was transferred as Commander

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, Multan.

Military coup of 1999 and Chief of General Staff

During the time of military coup of 1999, the then Lieutenant General Muhammad Yusaf Khan was the Corps Commander Multan. By September 2000, he was posted as Chief of General Staff (CGS) to replace the then Lieutenant General Aziz Khan who was instead given the command of Lahore Corps. The post of Chief of General Staff is considered vital as the chief overlooks the two intelligence bureaus within Pakistan Army (

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

and Intelligence Bureau).

Vice Chief of Army Staff

In October 2001, Yusaf was promoted to four-star general as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. He was junior only to Usmani, hence superseding one officer while ascending to the four-star post of VCOAS. The timing of promotion of General Yusaf and General Aziz Khan coincided with the

US invasion of Afghanistan Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States declared the war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The stated goal was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had exe ...

, when these generals superseded Lieutenant General Muzaffar Usmani and Lieutenant General

Mahmud Ahmed Mahmud Ahmed (; b. 1944) is a retired Pakistani three-star rank army general who served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence from 1999 to 2001. He commanded the X Corps against the Indian Army during the Kargil War in ...

, both of whom were known for their hawkish stances. Yusaf also stayed the ceremonial post of Colonel-in-Chief of the Armoured Corps of the Pakistan Army. The four-star general is usually promoted as the Colonel-in-Chief of his respective unit. He was promoted to that position by President General

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

on 31 March 2003 at the Armoured Corps Regimental Center in Nowshera and continued till 3 May 2005 when he was replaced by General

."General Yusaf installed new Colonel in Chief of Armoured Corps"
''President of Pakistan Press Release'', 31 March 2003

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Yusaf 1948 births Living people Chief of the General Staff (Pakistan) Pakistan Armoured Corps officers