Former Pakistan Army Chief Abdul Waheed Kakar Dies at 89

General Abdul Waheed Kakar, a former chief of army staff of Pakistan, died in Rawalpindi on Monday, October 26, 2026, at the age of 89. Geo News reported the death on Monday, citing the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan military. Kakar led the army from January 12, 1993 to January 12, 1996, a tenure that covered one of the most serious constitutional crises in the history of Pakistan.

Tributes from the army and the government

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations statement reported by Pakistani outlets, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the chief of army staff and chief of defence forces, and all ranks of the Pakistan Army expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death. The statement paid tribute to his distinguished military services, his leadership and his invaluable contributions to the army, and said the army stands with the bereaved family in this hour of grief.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the passing of the former army chief, according to the media wing of the presidency. He offered heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the bereaved family. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif also expressed deep sorrow and grief, paid tribute to the invaluable services of the late general to the Pakistan Army, and offered condolences to his family.

The general who ended a constitutional crisis

Kakar was appointed chief of army staff on January 12, 1993, after the sudden death of his predecessor, General Asif Nawaz. His appointment superseded several senior generals. Months into his tenure, a power struggle between President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paralysed the government. Kakar played a decisive role in resolving the crisis by securing the resignation of both the president and the prime minister in 1993. That step cleared the way for national general elections, which returned the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Benazir Bhutto to power.

During his tenure he was also instrumental in securing government funding for the Shaheen missile project developed by scientists of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. In September 1995, military intelligence and the military police foiled a plot by a group of army officers, headed by Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi and linked to a militant group, to assassinate Kakar and Bhutto and seize power. Those involved were arrested.

A career across two wars

Kakar was born on March 23, 1937, in Peshawar, then in British India. His uncle, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, was among the founding figures of Pakistan. Kakar joined the Pakistan Army in 1956 and was commissioned in the Frontier Force Regiment in 1959. He saw active service in the 1965 war with India at Chawinda, and in the 1971 war he served as brigade major of an independent infantry brigade in the Sulemanki sector.

He declined an extension of his service in 1996 and retired on January 12, 1996. After his retirement he largely stayed out of public life and lived a quiet life in Rawalpindi, the city where he died.