Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Hafiz has been appointed as the Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government Prof Muhammad Yunus.
The Chief Adviser made this appointment on Thursday (August 22), according to a notification from the Cabinet Division.
Hafiz will provide necessary support to the Chief Adviser in carrying out duties related to defence and national unity development.
As a Special Assistant, Lt Gen (retd) Hafiz will receive the rank, salary, allowances, and other ancillary benefits associated with the position of adviser.
Short biography
Lieutenant General Abdul Hafiz (Retd) was commissioned in the Bangladesh Army in the corps of infantry on May 8, 1977.
He served as the Chief of General Staff [CGS] of Bangladesh Army. A recipient of the UN Medal, Lt General Abdul Hafiz also served as Force Commander UNOCI in Ivory Coast and Force Commander MINURSO in Western Sahara for two terms.
He was a Military Observer in ‘United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission’ in 1991-1992. He also served as Chief Military Liaison Officer in Croatia.
He was Head of the United Nations Military Liaison Officers in Ivory Coast and later served as the Deputy Force Commander in United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) in 2003 -2005.
He is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC), Mirpur. He did his Infantry Officers’ Advance Course in the USA. He is a graduate of ‘Inter Services War College’, France and a graduate of National Defence College, Mirpur.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Dhaka University in 1981 and holds Master’s in Defence Studies (MDS) from National University.
General Hafiz served as Directing Staff (DS) in the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC), Mirpur, as Battalion Commander of Bangladesh Military Academy (BMA) and as Instructor in the School of Infantry and Tactics.
He held the appointment of the Commandant of Bangladesh Military Academy. He was a Brigade Commander in Comilla before he took over the Command of 33 Infantry Division as General Officer Commanding (GOC) and Area Commander, Comilla Area.
Later, he commanded Bangladesh Ansar & VDP, a para-military force, as its Director General two times. He also commanded the 11 Infantry Division as GOC. He retired from Bangladesh Army in November 2014.
A widely traveled person, General Hafiz is fluent in French which enabled him to perform as UN Force Commander in Francophone countries
An eminent guest speaker at various seminars and symposiums, General Hafiz takes keen interest in global security issues and the role of the United Nations in Peace Support Operations.
He is currently working as a Trustee at MKWT, a non-profit social welfare NGO based in Dhaka.
