After 3 Decades of Military Work.. Who is General Nu'man Mahmoud, the First Secretary-General of the "Makkah Alliance"

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After more than three decades spent in military leadership, intelligence work, strategic planning, and military education, retired Pakistani General Nauman Mahmood is moving to a new phase in his career by assuming the position of the first Secretary-General of the "Makkah Alliance for Joint Defense" between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The selection of General Nauman for this position comes at a foundational stage for the alliance, as the secretariat, which is being established in Riyadh, is tasked with building institutional work structures and coordinating cooperation among the three countries.

Pakistan announced last September his appointment as the first Secretary-General under the Makkah Agreement for Joint Defense, before the strategic political and defense committee of the alliance approved his appointment for a period of three years.

Mahmood's military career dates back to 1987 when he joined the Pakistan Army as part of the Baloch Regiment, before gradually rising through leadership, field, intelligence, and academic positions in the following years. Mahmood hails from Rawalpindi, and his diverse experience later formed the basis for his career in leadership, planning, and strategic analysis.

Academically, General Nauman received his military education at the Command and Staff College in Quetta, the Command and Staff College in Egypt, as well as the National Defense University in Islamabad, and he obtained a master's degree in War Studies. His relationship with the Command and Staff College was not limited to studying, as he returned as an instructor and progressed through various educational roles until he assumed the position of Chief Instructor, which added a dimension of training and military planning to his field experience.

In the field, General Nauman led an infantry division in North Waziristan, an area that has been associated with military and security operations for years. He also served as the Director General of Analysis at the Pakistani intelligence agency "ISI," where he worked in the field of security and strategic analysis.

In April 2019, Mahmood was promoted to the rank of General and took over as the Inspector General of Communications and Information Technology at the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi. After a few months, he moved to command the 11th Corps in Peshawar, one of the important military formations in an area close to the border with Afghanistan, and he continued in this position until November 2021.

After completing his mission in commanding the corps, General Nauman returned to the field of strategic military education, assuming the presidency of the National Defense University in Islamabad in November 2021, becoming the 35th president of the university. He remained in this position until April 2023, when he retired from the Pakistan Army, concluding a service that extended since 1987 and included multiple positions in command, intelligence, planning, and education.

Throughout his military career, General Nauman received the "Hilal-e-Imtiaz Military" award, while the positions he held reflected the diversity of his experience between commanding units and formations, intelligence work and strategic analysis, communications and information technology, as well as military training and education.

With his assumption of the position of the first Secretary-General of the "Makkah Alliance for Joint Defense", General Nauman transitions from working within the Pakistani military institution to managing the secretariat of a defense framework that brings together Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey. His main tasks at this stage include contributing to the construction of the alliance's structures, organizing mechanisms for joint work, and enhancing coordination among the three countries, drawing on decades of experience in field leadership, intelligence, strategic planning, and military education.