XI Corps (Pakistan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Pakistani XI Corps


country=PAK
type=Corps
dates=1975 to present
specialization=combined arms formation
command_structure= Northern Command
size=60,000 men (though this may vary as units are rotated)
current_commander= Lt. General Masood Aslam
garrison=Peshawar
ceremonial_chief=
colors=Red, White and Black
wars=Kargil War, War on terror
notable_commanders= Lt. General Mumtaz Gul
General Ehsan ul Haq
Lt. General Ali Jan Orakzai
Lt. General Safdar Hussain

The XI Corps is one of the Pakistan Army's nine active corps, and the only one in the NWFP. It is based in Peshawar. The Corps was raised in 1975 to command Pakistani units in the NWFP and Northern Areas.

Afghan War

It was the start of the Afghan War, which brought the Corps to prominence in 1979. It was given three infantry divisions, and was given the responsibility of covering the Khyber Pass, one of the two approches by which the Soviets could attack into Pakistan (the other was the Bolan Pass, guarded by the XII Corps). For more than a decade it held the line against Soviet expansionism.

Kargil War

The end of the Cold War brought effected the Corp immesly. No longer facing a threat on its Western flank, the army moved division, brigades and units away from the division, and its orienatation was changed from a defence of the Afghan border, to being a reserve in Kashmir. The 1999 Kargil War saw the corps enter action for the first time and it fought mainly in the Gultari sector of the war, where one of its members, Captain Sher Khan would win the Nishan-e-Haider.

War on Terror

After 9/11 and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, the XI Corps became the main Pakistani formation involved in fighting in Waziristan and the North West Frontier in general. It has been reinforced and also commands substantial forces of paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Composition

The order of battles of the corps keeps changing, especially in view of its current commitment in the War on terror. During peacetime the XI corps is based in the following areas:

* HQ XI Corps: Peshawar
** 7th Infantry Division: Peshawar
** 9th Infantry Division: Kohat
** Armoured Brigade: Nowshera.

References

* Brain Cloughley, A History of Pakistan Army

External links

* GlobalSecurity.org, [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/pakistan/xi-corps.htm Global Security Website about the XI Corps]
* [http://orbat.com/site/history/index.html This shows the Formations Insignia]