Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan)
Head of Afghanistan's armed forces
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces[1] (Dari: رئیس ستاد نیروهای مسلح افغانستان; Pashto: د افغانستان د ملي اردو لوی درستیز) is the highest-ranking military officer in the military of Afghanistan (currently the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces), who is responsible for maintaining the operational command of the military.
| Chief of Staff of the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Dari: رئیس ستاد نیروهای مسلح افغانستان Pashto: د افغانستان د ملي اردو لوی درستیز | |
| |
| Ministry of Defense | |
| Reports to | Minister of Defense |
| Seat | Kabul |
| Appointer | Supreme Leader |
List of chiefs
Abdul Karim Mustaghni was army chief of staff until the 1973 overthrow of the monarchy.[2] Under the rule of Hafizullah Amin, his brother in law Mohammed Yaqub served as Chief of the General Staff until being executed by Soviet-Parcham forces in December of 1979. In the late 1980s, during the communist regime, Nazar Mohammad served as army chief of staff, followed by Shahnawaz Tanai, Both from the Khalq faction of the PDPA[3] (December 1984 – March 1990), who was succeeded by Mohammed Asif Delawar following the 1990 coup attempt, which was led by Tanai.
Kingdom of Afghanistan (1926–1973)
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
 |
Major general Abdul Karim Mustaghni (1911–2004) |
? | 1973 | ? | Army | ||
Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
 |
Major general Ghulam Haidar Rasuli (1919–1978) |
1975 | April 1978 | ? | Army | ||
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992)
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
 |
Colonel general Mohammad Aslam Watanjar (1946–2000) |
1978 | 1 April 1979 | ? | Army | ||
| Lieutenant general Mohammed Yakub (?–1979) |
1 April 1979 | 27 December 1979 | ? | Army | |||
| Major general Gul Aqa |
? | ? | ? | Army | |||
 |
Lieutenant general Baba Jan Zahid |
? | January 1984 | ? | Army | ||
| Colonel general Nazar Mohammad (1935–1998) |
January 1984 | December 4 1984 | ? | Air Force | |||
.jpg) |
Lieutenant general Shahnawaz Tanai (1950–2022) |
December 1984 | March 1990 | ? | Army | [4] | |
| General Mohammed Asif Delawar |
March 1990 | 1992 | ? | Army | |||
Afghan Armed Forces (Islamic Republic era)
| No. | Portrait | Chief of General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lieutenant general Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (born 1961) | 8 March 2002 | 30 June 2010 | 8 years, 114 days |  Afghan National Army | [5][6] | |
| 2 | General Sher Mohammad Karimi (born 1945) | 30 June 2010 | 22 May 2015 | 4 years, 326 days | Afghan National Army | [5][7] | |
| 3 | General Qadam Shah Shahim (born 1962) | 22 May 2015 | 24 April 2017 | 1 year, 337 days | Afghan National Army | [5][8] | |
| 4 | Lieutenant general Mohammad Sharif Yaftali | 26 April 2017 | 13 March 2019 | 1 year, 323 days | Afghan National Army | [5][9] | |
| 5 | Lieutenant general Bismillah Waziri | 13 March 2019 | 7 July 2020 | 1 year, 116 days | Afghan National Army | [5] | |
| 6 | Lieutenant general Yasin Zia | 7 July 2020 | 19 June 2021 | 347 days | Afghan National Army | [10] | |
| 7 | Lieutenant general Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai | 19 June 2021 | 11 August 2021 | 53 days | Afghan National Army | [11] | |
| 8 | Lieutenant general Hebatullah Alizai | 11 August 2021 | 15 August 2021 | 4 days | Afghan National Army | [12][13] |
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Islamic Emirate Armed Forces
| No. | Portrait | Chief of General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colonel general Fasihuddin Fitrat | 7 September 2021 | Incumbent | 4 years, 201 days* |  Islamic National Army | [14][15] |
* Incumbent's time in office last updated: 27 March 2026.