Gen Belal takes charge of new army chief

The chief of naval staff Vice Admiral S Farid Habib and the chief of air staff Air Marshal Abu Esrar adorn the new chief of army staff Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq with the insignia of a general in presence of prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban on Thursday. — BSS photo

The newly appointed army chief, Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq, took charge of Bangladesh Army on Thursday from the outgoing chief of army staff, General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan.

General Iqbal Karim handed over the charge to the new chief of army staff at a ceremony at the army headquarters around 12:05pm.
With his retirement on the same day, General Karim, popularly known as IKB, ended his military career spanning 39 years.
The government on June 10 appointed Abu Belal, one of the five lieutenant generals, as the army chief for next three years.
Lieutenant General Belal, the Armed Forces Division principal staff officer, has been promoted as a General from today while General Karim completed his three years as the army chief.
A cadet of 6th short course of the army, Belal is the second senior most among the five lieutenant generals of the army.
In his career spanning 37 years, Belal had held a number of important positions, including aide-de-camp to the then president Hussain Muhammad Ershad in early 1980s.

Source: New Age