Bakhodir Kurbanov (General)

Major General Bakhodir Nizamovich Kurbanov (Bahodir Nizomovich Qurbonov, Баходир Низамович Курбанов) is an Uzbek military leader who is the current Minister of Defence of Uzbekistan. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kurbanov enrolled in the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan, of which he graduated from in 1994. In December 2013, Kurbanov was appointed to the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan. In the 5 years that followed, he served in various positions in the internal services and military units of the armed forces, such as Commander of the Tashkent Military District. On 11 February 2019, Kurbanov was appointed as Minister of Defense, replacing Lieutenant General Abdusalom Azizov, who was transferred to the National Security Service. One of his first actions as defence minister was to chair a conference of the Chiefs of Defence of the militaries of Central Asia, as well as the Commander of the United States Central Command Joseph Votel.