Raheel Sharif

General Raheel Sharif (Urdu/; born 16 June 1956) is the 15th and current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army.

Early life, family and education
Sharif was born on 16 June 1956 in Quetta to a Rajput family of prominent military background. His roots are in the town of Kunjah in the Gujrat District of Punjab province. His father, Major Muhammad Sharif, was a retired major. He is the youngest sibling among three brothers and two sisters. His eldest brother is Major Shabbir Sharif who died in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and received the Nishan-e-Haider posthumously. His other brother, Mumtaz Sharif, was a captain in the army. He is also the nephew of Major Raja Aziz Bhatti, another Nishan-i-Haider recipient, who fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Despite sharing a common surname, and being of the same origin (Kashmiri) he is not directly related to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He is married and has three children, which include two sons and a daughter.

Military service
Sharif received his formal education from the Government College in Lahore and then attended the Pakistan Military Academy for military education. After graduation, he was commissioned into the 6th battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment in 1976. During his early years, he performed duties in an infantry brigade in Gilgit and also served as an adjutant to the Pakistan Military Academy. Over the years, he rose up in the military ranks and was given command of the 11th Infantry Division in Lahore by General Pervez Musharraf.

As a brigadier, he commanded two infantry brigades. Sharif has also been the General Ofﬁcer Commander of an infantry division and the Commandant of the Pakistan Military Academy. Following his promotion as a Lieutenant General, Sharif served for two years as a Corps Commander until taking over as an Inspector General for Training and Evaluation under which he was involved in overseeing training in the Pakistan Army.

Role in War on Terror
In both the positions held since 2007, his role was primarily to deal with the evaluation of military doctrines and war strategies with a view to shaping future training programs. He played a key role in presiding over a change of military thinking, under which the focus of the army's work is geared more towards carrying out counter-insurgency operations against Taliban militants. Sharif has also played a vital role in enhancing the military colleges in the country and providing unconventional training to the troops.

Sharif has played a big role in convincing other senior officers in the Army that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and assorted militants inside Pakistan are just as big a threat as India. However, General Sharif stressed that all possible threats will be dealt with accordingly, be it internal or external.

Chief of Army Staff
On 27 November 2013, Sharif was appointed as the 15th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. According to sources, General Sharif is said to be uninterested in politics. But he was elevated over two more senior generals. Lieutenant General Haroon Aslam, a senior general resigned over his elevation. However, analysts have pointed out that, because of the precarious situation in North-West Pakistan, General Sharif was the best man to take over from the helms of General Kayani.