Mujahid Anwar Khan

Mujahid Anwar Khan is a retired four-star rank officer who served as the 15th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 2018 to 2021.

On 19 March 2018, Anwar took over command of the PAF from his predecessor Sohail Aman. and the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey.

In 2024, he was appointed as the global goodwill ambassador of Niaz Support, a social enterprise in Pakistan that provides customized wheelchairs.

Operation Swift Retort (2019) Under the command of Mujahid Anwar Khan in 2019 Pakistan Air Force participated in the 2019 India–Pakistan border skirmishes between 26–27 February 2019. On 27 February 2019 the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted six airstrikes at multiple locations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The airstrikes were part of the PAF military operation codenamed Operation Swift Retort and were conducted in retaliation to the Indian Air Force (IAF) airstrike in Balakot just a day before on 26 February 2019.

Following Pakistan's airstrikes, Indian Air Force (IAF) jets started pursuing Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets. In the resulting dogfight, Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured one Indian pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman. India claimed to have shot down one Pakistani F16 without giving substantive evidence to support its claim.

As a result of the fog of war created out of the dogfight between two air forces, Indian Air Force shot down its own Mil Mi-17 helicopter due to a friendly fire incident in which six IAF personnel were killed including two squadron leaders, namely, Siddarth Vashista and Ninad Mandavgane.

Awards and decorations

PAF GD(P) Badge RED (More than 3000 Flying Hours)Parachutist BadgeNishan-e-Imtiaz (Civilian)

(Order of Excellence)Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military)

(Order of Excellence)Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Crescent of Excellence)Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Star of Excellence)Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Medal of Excellence)Tamgha-e-Baqa (Nuclear Test Medal)

1998Tamgha-e-Istaqlal Pakistan (Escalation with India Medal)

2002Tamgha-e-Azm (Medal of Conviction)

(Hijri Medal)

1979Tamgha-e-Jamhuriat (Democracy Medal)

1988Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan (Independence Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey 2018

Foreign Decorations Foreign AwardOrder of Merit of the Republic of Turkey

Effective dates of promotion