Islamabad: Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir's task is to create unity within the ranks of top echelons of the Pakistani army and ensure that former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is kept out of the electoral contest expected to be held this year, The Asian Lite reported.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been able to survive thus far in Pakistan's politics due to his tenacity and continued support from elements within the Pakistan army, as per the news report. It is the reason why Imran Khan continues to remain out of judicial confinement.

The political drama surrounding Imran Khan recently witnessed a bizarre incident when he came to the anti-terror court (ATC) to seek an extension in bail in three of the scores of cases registered against him, as per the news report.

The cricketer-turned-politician was seen wearing a makeshift bulletproof helmet like a black hood, fully guarded by four men with bulletproof shields and an aide guiding him to an anti-terror court. Khan is currently embroiled in more than 140 cases related to terrorism, murder, attempted murder, and blasphemy, The Asian Lite reported citing Geo News.

One of the reasons Lieutenant General Asim Munir was chosen to be the Army Chief as he had objected to some of the activities of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan's wife when he was the DG, ISI, as per The Asian Lite report.

Angry Imran Khan ensured General Munir's ouster from ISI in haste. While General Munir is against Imran Khan, however, there are others in Pakistan's army who support the PTI chairman. One of them is Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed who is also a former DG, ISI.

General Hameed was involved in an attempt to stop General Asim Munir from taking over as Pakistan's Army Chief. General Hameed reportedly played a significant role in supporting and sustaining the PTI-led government, which is why Imran Khan was keen to appoint Hameed as the COAS.

In a recent interview, Pakistan's former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that he had ignored a few of Hameed's "unauthorised acts" as DG, ISI, the report said. General Hameed was reportedly part of a Whatsapp group of Generals, judges, bureaucrats, and politicians who manipulated events in Pakistan. The latest episode is related to an attempt by General Hameed to block the possible selection of General Asim Munir as the new chief of the Pakistani army.

An investigation carried out by Pakistan's central citizen database, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), found that some senior officers of the agency were involved in obtaining personal information related to General Munir's wife and his family's international travels.

During this time, a junior data entry operator at NADRA, Farooq Ahmed, allegedly accessed the data of a female family member of General Asim Munir and gathered the details of family members and identity card numbers, as per the news report.

The data was later used in the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to monitor international travel destinations of General Munir's family, The Asian Lite cited The News International report.

The conspiracy occurred in October 2022 when five senior Lt-Generals, including Munir and Hameed, were being mentioned as possible contenders for the post of COAS, The Asian Lite cited Dawn report.

Brigadier (Retired) Khalid Latif, a senior NADRA officer, supervised the inquiry into the data leak. He was later found to be a close aide of Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed. Latif was then replaced by another senior officer, Ali Javaid and the inquiry found two NADRA officers - Khalid Anayatullah and Amir Bukhari as the key players behind the data leak.

The extent of Lt General Hameed's network of conspirators can be gauged from the group's involvement in the leakage of sensitive meetings between Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif, his principal secretary Tauqeer Shah, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz and other senior ministers at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The conversations between the leaders took place in September 2022. The investigation carried out by the Intelligence Bureau found Pakistan's Aide-De-Camp (ADC) Major Arsalan as the main culprit. As per the news report, Major Arsalan was ADC to Lt. Gen. Hameed when he was DG, ISI.

In November last year, General Faiz Hameed was aware that he was under scrutiny and decided to retire prematurely from the Pakistan Army. In March 2023, the Shahbaz Sharif government initiated a corruption probe against General Hameed.

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan created a network within the Pakistan Army to ensure his survival. However, the Pakistan army realised that the PTI chairman had become a liability and needed to be discarded. The decision suited the Army Generals, except for General Hameed and his colleagues. Presently, Imran Khan's survival today is partly due to the soft corner that some generals have for him.