General Mohammed Yasin Zia has been appointed as the new Army Chief of General Staff of Afghanistan National Army. Zia, a military veteran has raised through ranks in recent years to eventually become the Chief of General Staff of ANA. The appointment of Zia, who is a Tajik is significant in ANA that is majorly dominated by Pashtuns.
Held many important posts in past
Prior to his appointment as the Chief of General Staff, General Zia also headed Afghanistan's counter-terrorism unit. General Zia was also the Operational Deputy to the director of the National Directorate of Security. Moreover, he also held the post of Provincial Governor Takhar to quell the terrorist activities in the region. In the year 2019, he was appointed as first Deputy Defence Minister, the post that laid vacant for many years. Zia has worked in various government fields during the past several years including as the provincial governor in some provinces. He also served as the deputy head of the Afghan intelligence, national directorate of security in the past.
The officer is popular among the masses and is known for his operational intelligence capabilities. While serving as Takhar Governor, General Zia disguised himself as an ordinary man to catch two attorneys taking bribe. The case is related to an Afghani man requesting the attorneys to release his son. The attorneys demanded a bribe of 60,000 Afghani (the currency of Afghanistan) for the release. When Zia came to know about this issue, he disguised as an ordinary man and nabbed the attorneys in the presence of also intelligence agents and representatives from the attorney office.
