Mushaf Ali Mir

Who was Mushaf Ali Mir?

Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir was an influential statesman and a four-star air chief marshal, who was the sixteenth chief of air staff of Pakistan Air Force, serving from 20 November 2000 until his accidental death on 20 February 2003.

A fighter pilot and air operations strategist, Mir commanded the strategic aerial combat missions during the civil war in Afghanistan, and also commanded PAF forces during the 2001 Indo-Pakistan standoff. On 20 November 2000, he was promoted to four-star rank and appointed Chief of Air Staff by his close friend and comrade, General Pervez Musharraf. However, his tenure was cut short in 2003 when a former PAF Fokker F-27 on which he was a passenger crashed during a routine flight near Kohat, Pakistan. He was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat in 2003.