At the age of 20, he was commissioned into the
Pakistan Army in the 16
Azad Kashmir Regiment after completing the 79th
Pakistan Military Academy course in March 1989. He had also studied at the
Homs Military Academy. Known for "leading from the front", Sarfraz Ali received his first
Tamgha-e-Basalat in 2005 and second in 2008 for his gallantry in commanding Pakistani units during
Operation Rah-e-Rast and
Operation Zarb-e-Azb. From 2012 to 2014, he commanded the
111th Infantry Brigade. He later served as Pakistan's
defence attaché to
Washington, D.C. from 2014 to 2017. In January 2018, he was appointed as Commandant of
Command and Staff College Quetta. On 25 October 2018, he was appointed Director General of
Military Intelligence. He was appointed Commander of the
XII Corps in December 2020, where he served until his death in August 2022.
Commander 111th Infantry Brigade On 12 January 2012 when Sarfraz was promoted to Brigadier and appointed as the Commander of the
111th Infantry Brigade, the Pakistani Government, Pakistani media and Indian media speculated that a
Coup d'état was about to take place due to Sarfraz's posting at a time when
Prime Minister Gillani had accused
Chief of Army Staff General Kayani and Director General
ISI General Pasha of violating the constitution by submitting "illegal" replies against Zardari to the Supreme Court on the
memogate scandal, which
President Zardari sent to the
White House begging the American Government to save him from the
Pakistan Army. The rumors started by the government and media later turned out to be false as there was no
Coup d'état and just a routine change of command. While commanding the brigade, Sarfraz led the recovery efforts for the
Bhoja Air Flight 213 which crashed in
Rawalpindi on 20 April 2012. During the
2014 Azadi March, he led a team of officers to disperse protestors from the
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who were demonstrating outside the
Pakistan Television Corporation headquarters against
Nawaz Sharif and his government.
Defence attaché Sarfraz served as Pakistan's
Defence attaché to
Washington from 2014 to 2017. In July 2016, he was invited to give a speech at the
Naval Postgraduate School in
California to the students of the schools National Security Affairs, South Asia curriculum, where he informed them about the efforts of the
Pakistan Army against extremism, terrorism, and securing the AFG-PAK border. He was also known for being a cook as he would prepare breakfast for fellows/unit officers who arrived from
Pakistan and were posted at the embassy. While serving in this position, he was promoted to Major General on 9 February 2017.
DG ISI and Army Chief prospect In October 2021, Sarfraz was among three generals interviewed by
Prime Minister Imran Khan for the post of
Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad stated in an interview that former Prime Minister
Imran Khan wanted to appoint Lt. General Sarfraz Ali as
Chief of Army Staff after
General Bajwa's retirement. == Legacy ==