Islamabad: The federal government has appointed Major General Faisal Naseer, HI (M), Tamgha-i-Basalat & Bar, as national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority for a three year term, according to a notification issued by the Establishment Division.

The appointment was made with the approval of the federal government and is effective immediately. Maj Gen Naseer will serve on a secondment basis under Section 9(1) of the Nacta Act, 2013, on standard terms and conditions and until further orders.

Maj Gen Naseer is a serving Pakistan Army officer with experience in counter terrorism and security operations. He had been serving as director general (counter-intelligence) since 2022, shortly after his promotion to the rank of major general.

An Establishment Division official said civilian officers were transferred through deputation, while serving army officers were posted from one organisation to another on a secondment basis.

The appointment comes as Pakistan continues to face terrorist threats, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A senior Nacta official said there had been a proposal for the authority to be led by a seasoned army or intelligence officer, citing the need for greater strategic and operational experience.

Nacta was established as Pakistan’s lead civilian counter-terrorism authority and was envisaged as a one-window mechanism for coordinating national efforts against terrorism. However, the authority has faced difficulties in developing the command and coordination role envisaged under the law.

It has largely functioned as a policy secretariat, with limited capacity to enforce decisions across the country’s security and law-enforcement institutions. The authority has also experienced frequent changes in leadership, with more than a dozen national coordinators since its establishment, most of them from the police service.

Initiatives undertaken over the past decade have included the establishment of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre (NIFTAC) under Nacta. The move has also prompted concerns over the centralisation of counter-terrorism functions and democratic oversight.

Maj Gen Naseer’s appointment marks a departure from Nacta’s usual leadership pattern. He had been serving as head of the ISI’s Internal Wing, an assignment dealing with domestic security and political matters.

The DG (Counter-Intelligence) position is sometimes described as heading the ISI’s counter-intelligence wing. However, the officer holding the post heads the agency’s Internal Wing, which deals with domestic security and political matters and, because of the nature of the assignment, frequently engages with the country’s principal power centres.

Maj Gen Naseer will now take charge as Nacta’s national coordinator for the notified three-year period.