Ali Kuli Khan
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General
Ali Kuli Khan Khattak, is senior retired three-star general and military strategist who was a former Chief of General Staff (CGS)
, Commander X Corps
(Rawalpindi
) and Director General Military Intelligence
(DGMI) of the Pakistan Army
who was superseded when the then Lieutenant General Pervez Musharraf
was promoted as the chief of army staff. As the DGMI, he exposed the 1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt
in which Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi
tried to overthrow the Benazir Bhutto
government and install an Islamist regime.
, the same unit of his father Lt General Habibullah Khan Khattak
. He also resigned from the Army in 1998 like his father when he was superseded by General Pervez Musharraf
as the Army Chief (Habibullah was installed as the Chief of Staff (COS) to General Muhammad Musa by President Ayub Khan in 1958, but as the two couldn't get along despite of being batch-mates, Habibullah resigned from the Army). He was a capable general of very high qualities.
in which Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi
tried to overthrow the Benazir Bhutto
government and install an Islamist regime. This was the fourth failed (and exposed) coup attempt in Pakistani history. The first one was the 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy when Maj Gen Akbar Khan
, then CGS tried to overthrow the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
government over the handling of 1948 Kashmir War, the second one was the Attock Conspiracy Case during tenure of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
, and the third one was during General Zia-ul-Haq's era when Maj Gen Tajammal Hussain Malik was arrested along with other conspirators.
after Lt Gen Iftikhar Ali Khan
was made the Defence Secretary by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He retired from the army when Musharraf was made the COAS in October 1998. At that time, Musharraf superseded two senior officers; Ali Kuli Khan Khattak and Khalid Nawaz, the then Quarter-Master General (QMG).
as a military success, General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak in a scathing review brushed off Musharraf's claim as fictitious, and termed the debacle as the biggest tragedy of Pakistan even bigger than East Pakistan dismemberment
. He is also very critical of Musharraf's book In the Line of Fire
, where according to him, the author puts Ali Kuli Khan Khattak's image in a negative manner.
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Ali Kuli Khan Khattak, is senior retired three-star general and military strategist who was a former Chief of General Staff (CGS)
Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)
Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution...
, Commander X Corps
X Corps (Pakistan)
The X Corps is an active military administrative corps of Pakistan Army, currently assigned in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province of Pakistan. Its one of two brigades are currently active in Kashmir. One of its brigades, the 111th Infantry Brigade in Rawalpindi, has been frequently involved in military...
(Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
) and Director General Military Intelligence
Military Intelligence of Pakistan
In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...
(DGMI) of the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
who was superseded when the then Lieutenant General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
was promoted as the chief of army staff. As the DGMI, he exposed the 1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt
1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt
The Pakistan coup attempt of 1995 was a secretive plot hatched by renegade military officers and against the government of Benazir Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The plotters aimed to overthrow the constitutional government and establish an Military Rule in Pakistan...
in which Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi
Zahirul Islam Abbasi
Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi , was a former commander and officer of the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency of the Pakistani Armed Forces. Serving in the Siachen region of the disputed territory of Kashmir, Abbasi planned and executed assaults on posts occupied by the...
tried to overthrow the Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
government and install an Islamist regime.
Early military career
Ali Kuli Khan Khattak was inducted in the 29th PMA Long Course in 1964 graduating first in his course. He belonged to the 12th Battalion of the Baloch RegimentBaloch Regiment
The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of the Regiment to more than fifty battalions...
, the same unit of his father Lt General Habibullah Khan Khattak
Habibullah Khan Khattak
Lieutenant General Habibullah Khan Khattak was born in Wana, Waziristan, British India, now part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The son of Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, his son Ali Kuli Khan Khattak also rose to the rank of Lt Gen and retired as the Chief of General...
. He also resigned from the Army in 1998 like his father when he was superseded by General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
as the Army Chief (Habibullah was installed as the Chief of Staff (COS) to General Muhammad Musa by President Ayub Khan in 1958, but as the two couldn't get along despite of being batch-mates, Habibullah resigned from the Army). He was a capable general of very high qualities.
Exposing the 1995 coup d'état attempt
As the DGMI, he exposed the 1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt
The Pakistan coup attempt of 1995 was a secretive plot hatched by renegade military officers and against the government of Benazir Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The plotters aimed to overthrow the constitutional government and establish an Military Rule in Pakistan...
in which Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi
Zahirul Islam Abbasi
Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi , was a former commander and officer of the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency of the Pakistani Armed Forces. Serving in the Siachen region of the disputed territory of Kashmir, Abbasi planned and executed assaults on posts occupied by the...
tried to overthrow the Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
government and install an Islamist regime. This was the fourth failed (and exposed) coup attempt in Pakistani history. The first one was the 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy when Maj Gen Akbar Khan
Akbar Khan (Pakistan)
Major General Akbar Khan, DSO also known as Mohammed Akbar Khan, was a Pakistan Army officer who is most known as the Brigadier-in-Charge in Kashmir on the Pakistan side in Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He also served as a commander of the Pakistan Army's division to stop the first Baloch insurgency...
, then CGS tried to overthrow the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
government over the handling of 1948 Kashmir War, the second one was the Attock Conspiracy Case during tenure of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...
, and the third one was during General Zia-ul-Haq's era when Maj Gen Tajammal Hussain Malik was arrested along with other conspirators.
X Corps and Chief of General Staff
Ali Kuli took over the X Corps in October 1995 after his investigations led the Army to uncover the coup attempt. He replaced the then X corps commander Lt Gen Ghulam Muhammad Malik, whose name also surfaced in the coup attempts, but was later exonerated. Kuli later became the Chief of General StaffChief of General Staff (Pakistan)
Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution...
after Lt Gen Iftikhar Ali Khan
Iftikhar Ali Khan (general)
Lieutenant General Iftikhar Ali Khan , HI, SBt, was the former Secretary of Defence and Chief of General Staff of the Pakistan Army. He was the elder brother of National Assembly opposition leader Nisar Ali Khan...
was made the Defence Secretary by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He retired from the army when Musharraf was made the COAS in October 1998. At that time, Musharraf superseded two senior officers; Ali Kuli Khan Khattak and Khalid Nawaz, the then Quarter-Master General (QMG).
Kargil War rebuttal
Owing to Musharraf's claim of Kargil WarKargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
as a military success, General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak in a scathing review brushed off Musharraf's claim as fictitious, and termed the debacle as the biggest tragedy of Pakistan even bigger than East Pakistan dismemberment
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
. He is also very critical of Musharraf's book In the Line of Fire
In the Line of Fire (book)
In the Line of Fire: A Memoir is a book that was written by former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf and first published on September 25, 2006...
, where according to him, the author puts Ali Kuli Khan Khattak's image in a negative manner.