General Headquarters (Pakistan Army)

In 1851, the British Army in India made a permanent headquarter in Rawalpindi when James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie decided to stationed the 53rd Infantry Regiment to protect India from Afghan intervention. The Army's GHQ was viewed as a temporary post in Rawalpindi since its where Gen. Messervy was based in. Since its establishment, the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi has faced many problems in civil–military relations context and criticism at broader level since the nation's capital was based in Karachi in past, and now in Islamabad. Until 2006, the Army GHQ's command post was based in Rawalpindi but later moved to Chaklala, near the vicinities of the PAF Base Chaklala and the JS HQ military headquarters. == Gates ==

The Pakistan Army's GHQ is a command post of the Pakistan Army where the secretariat of the Chief of the Army Staff functions to ensure the ceremonial and operational command of the army. The chief of general staff, who usually heads the Army GHQ Staff, reports directly to chief of army staff on daily routine basis. Branches of the Pakistan Army There are ten branches of the Pakistan Army that are headed by the lieutenant-generals and multiple administrative corps that are commanded by the director-generals who are ranked at the major-general. The Chief of Army Staff Secretariat is not considered as a part of the army branch but functions separately as an office of the chief of army staff. ==Security==

Incidents and Breaches In 1970s, the Army's GHQ became a focal point of massive arrests and incidents of military police's baton charge on protestors when politicians Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (in 1970) and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (in 1977) were taken into custody. The Pakistani Taliban have repeatedly attacked the headquarters. The first attack took place in 2007. Others followed in 2008, resulting in Operation Janbaz, the December 2009 Rawalpindi attack; and the 2014 Rawalpindi suicide bombing. On 9 May 2023, the Army GHQ along with 40 administration buildings were attacked and vandalized after the National Accountability Bureau agents and Rangers were sent to deliver the arrest warrants to former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his appearance in Islamabad High Court. Relocation efforts To prevent the Taliban's repeated infiltration and to address the issue of increase security, the headquarters, together with Joint Staff Headquarters, has been slowly moving to Islamabad to integrate with the navy and air force's headquarters that are located in much safer zones of Islamabad, since 2017. ==See also==