Former army chief General (retd) Abdul Waheed Kakar dies in Rawalpindi at 89

General (retd) Abdul Waheed Kakar, who led the Pakistan Army from January 1993 to January 1996, died in Rawalpindi on Monday, 26 October 2026, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. He was 89.

In its statement, ISPR said Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, and all ranks of the army paid tribute to "the late General's distinguished military career, leadership and invaluable services" and shared the family's grief, Geo News reported. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also offered condolences. Funeral details had not been announced at the time of writing.

Who was General Waheed Kakar

Born on 23 March 1937, Kakar was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment in 1959 and fought in the 1965 war at Chawinda and the 1971 war in the Sulemanki sector. He studied at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, the Command and Staff College in Canada and the National Defence University.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed him army chief on 12 January 1993, after the sudden death of General Asif Nawaz. Kakar was the junior-most lieutenant general at the time and was promoted over several senior officers.

The 1993 'Kakar formula'

His name is best remembered for the "Kakar formula" of July 1993. With President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif locked in a standoff that had paralysed the government, Kakar brokered a deal under which both men resigned. He did not take power himself. Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad became acting president, a caretaker government ran the country, and elections later that year returned Benazir Bhutto's PPP to power.

The episode is still cited in Pakistani politics as the template for the army stepping in to break a civilian deadlock without imposing martial law.

In 1995, during his tenure, the army uncovered a coup plot by a group of officers led by Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi. Kakar retired in January 1996, reportedly declining an extension, and was succeeded by General Jehangir Karamat. He kept away from public life afterwards and lived quietly in Rawalpindi.

His awards included the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military).

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