President confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Civil) on Air Chief

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Civil) on Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan here on Wednesday.

The President decorated the outgoing Air Chief with the prestigious award in recognition of his outstanding service for the country.

The investiture ceremony held at the President House was attended by Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, and senior civil and military officers.

Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) was commissioned in December 1983 as a fighter pilot in General Duty Pilot Branch of Pakistan Air Force.

During his illustrious career, he commanded a fighter squadron. He held the operational appointments as Base Commander PAF Shahbaz, Base Commander PAF Mushaf, Air Officer Commanding, Central Regional Air Command, Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Support) and Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) at Air Headquarters.

He is a graduate of Combat Commanders School, Command and Staff College, Jordan and National Defence University, Islamabad. He did his Master’s degree in War Studies and Defence Management. He was decorated with “The Legion of Merit Medal” by the Government of Republic of Turkey.

He was promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal and appointed as Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force on March 19, 2018.

On February 27, 2019 under his command, Operation Swift Retort was conducted in response to Indian fighter jets’ violation of Pakistan’s air space at midnight of February 28, 2019.

Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan played a visionary role in planning and execution of the Operation Swift Retort. The successful response of Pakistan Air Force established the credibility of Pakistan's conventional deterrence in maintaining strategic edge in the region.

Under the command of Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar, the spectacular success of PAF response, to the Indian misadventure, was widely applauded by the nation.

The award was given to him in recognition of his dedicated services and for raising the morale of the people of Pakistan in the Operation Swift Retort.