The Pakistan Army has been described as being arguably the country’s most powerful institution.176 Sources from 2025 and early 2026 estimated that the Pakistan Armed Forces in their entirety had between 650 000177 and 660 000 active-duty personnel, with an overall personnel strength of around 1 710 000.178 Within the armed forces, active duty members of the Pakistan Army accounted for 550 000 as of December 2025. Pakistan’s military forces are tasked with external defence but also have a role in internal security.179 Troops serve on a voluntary basis. Each of the main services of Pakistan’s armed forces (army, navy, air force) is commanded by a chief of staff.180
The 27th amendment to the Constitution, signed into law in November 2025,181 rewrote Article 243 of the Constitution to create the new supreme military position of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), a post designed to be held automatically by the sitting chief of the Pakistani Army, currently Asim Munir.182 This grants the army chief (Munir) primacy183/direct operational command184 over the chiefs of the air force and navy,185 thus effectively placing these two services under the CDF’s authority.186 At the same time, the new amendment abolished the position of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), which, albeit ceremonial, had embodied a degree of equilibrium between the three armed services.187 The amendment further provides for professional safeguards for Munir, requiring a two-thirds majority in parliament to remove a CDF. Moreover, it grants lifelong immunity from prosecution to five-star military officers, a rank presently only held by Munir.188 The amendment also created the new military position of Commander of the National Strategic Command (CNSC), whose holder is responsible for overseeing the country’s nuclear command189 and reports through the army’s chain of command.190
The Army General Headquarters (GHQ) is located in Chaklala in the city of Rawalpindi.191 As reported in mid-2025, the army’s command system encompassed nine corps-level commands, each covering a specific geographic zone and operational domain.192 Paramilitary groups affiliated with the Pakistan Army include the Khyber Rifles193 and the National Guard. Pakistan’s military arsenal consists of foreign and some domestically produced equipment.194 During the reference period, the military forces significantly stepped up their use of targeted drone strikes against militants.195 In Balochistan, there were a number of reported instances of the army subjecting civilians to extrajudicial killing,196 arbitrarily detention/enforced disappearance,197 and torture.198
- 176
Arab News, Pakistan appoints intelligence chief as National Security Adviser amid tensions with India, 1 May 2025, url; Al Jazeera, Pakistan promotes army chief Asim Munir to field marshal: Why it matters, 21 May 2025, url
- 177
US, CIA, World Factbook – Pakistan, last updated 30 December 2025, archived page from 4 February 2026, url
- 178
GFP, 2026 Pakistan Military Strength, last updated 22 January 2026, url
- 179
US, CIA, World Factbook – Pakistan, last updated 30 December 2025, archived page from 4 February 2026, url
- 180
Britannica, Pakistan, Political Process, last updated 30 March 2026, url
- 181
Express Tribune (The), President signs 27th Amendment Bill into law, 14 November 2025, url
- 182
Sinha, R. and Sharma, S., Pakistan: The Winner Takes It All, ORF, 20 November 2025, url
- 183
Chatham House, Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment moves it one step closer to authoritarian rule, 2 December 2025, url
- 184
Khan, A., What Pakistan’s 2025 Army Reforms Really Mean for the Country, The Diplomat, 17 November 2025, url
- 185
Chatham House, Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment moves it one step closer to authoritarian rule, 2 December 2025, url; Khan, A., What Pakistan’s 2025 Army Reforms Really Mean for the Country, The Diplomat, 17 November 2025, url
- 186
Khan, A., What Pakistan’s 2025 Army Reforms Really Mean for the Country, The Diplomat, 17 November 2025, url; Al Jazeera, Will Pakistan’s defence overhaul strengthen or upset its military balance?, 14 November 2025, url
- 187
Khan, A., What Pakistan’s 2025 Army Reforms Really Mean for the Country, The Diplomat, 17 November 2025, url
- 188
Chatham House, Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment moves it one step closer to authoritarian rule, 2 December 2025, url
- 189
Al Jazeera, Will Pakistan’s defence overhaul strengthen or upset its military balance?, 14 November 2025, url
- 190
Sinha, R. and Sharma, S., Pakistan: The Winner Takes It All, ORF, 20 November 2025, url
- 191
Economic Times (The), After Indian missile blitz, Pakistan weighs shifting Army HQ from Chaklala to Islamabad: Reports, 16 May 2025 url
- 192
Print (The), Mapping Pakistan Army’s corps commands & their strategic roles, from Rawalpindi to LoC, 17 May 2025, url
- 193
Britannica, Pakistan, Political Process, last updated 30 March 2026, url
- 194
US, CIA, World Factbook – Pakistan, last updated 30 December 2025, archived page from 4 February 2026, url
- 195
ACLED, Pakistan battles rising militancy that risks spreading beyond the frontiers, 11 December 2025, url
- 196
PAANK, Paank Monthly Report August 2025, 28 September 2025, url
- 197
HRCB, Balochistan: 104 Enforced Disappearances, 65 Killings, and a Major Military Siege in Zehri – September 2025, 30 October 2025, url; News on the Air, Several human rights organisations in Pakistan sound alarm over rising disappearances in Balochistan, 5 December 2025, url; PAANK, Paank Monthly Report August 2025, 28 September 2025, url
- 198
PAANK, Paank Monthly Report August 2025, 28 September 2025, url