Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf passes away

Pakistan's former president General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf passed away on Sunday after prolonged illness, Pakistan's Geo News reported.

Musharraf, 79, was undergoing treatment for an ailment at a hospital in Dubai. 

He was reportedly suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body. 

In a statement issued immediately after Musharraf's death, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan military, said that Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad and all the services chiefs express their heartfelt condolences.

"May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family," it said.

A senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Fawad Hussain, took to Twitter to extend his condolences and wrote, "Pervez Musharraf passed away, he was a great person, always Pakistan first was his thought and ideology. May God have mercy on him."

Musharraf was born on August 11, 1943 in Delhi. His family moved from New Delhi to Karachi in 1947. He joined the Pakistan Army in 1964 and was a graduate of the Army Staff and Command College, Quetta.

He was the main architect of the Kargil War that took place months after then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed a historic peace accord with his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lahore.

Moreover, he was also declared a fugitive in the assassination case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the Red Mosque cleric killing case.

Musharraf had left for Dubai in March 2016 for medical treatment and never returned to Pakistan.

(With PTI inputs)

Also Read: ‘India’s image isn’t suffering’: FM Sitharaman on withdrawal of Adani Enterprises FPO