ISLAMABAD (AP) — A senior army general was tapped as Pakistan's new spy chief, state-run media reported on Monday.

The powerful Inter-Service Intelligence, though officially reports to the prime minister, takes its directive from the military which has ruled Pakistan for over three decades since its independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The agency has also been previously criticized for indulging in politics.

Lt. Gen. Asim Malik was appointed days ahead of the retirement of Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, the ISI Director-General. The new chief had held key positions in the military in southwestern Balochistan and the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan. Both provinces have witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent years.

Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst said Malik will play a critical role in how Pakistan navigates the complex internal and growing external national security challenges over the coming years as the South Asian country tries to “balance the U.S. financial goodwill” and "security cooperation against terrorism ... while continuing to attract Chinese investments in face of economic challenges.

Malik, currently serving at the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, will take office Sep. 30, according to Pakistan Television.

In 2021, former spy chief, Army Gen. Faiz Hameed, was promoted to a three-star general, allowing Anjum to replace him.

Last month, the military arrested Hameed following orders from the country's highest court over allegations that he misused his position to grab land for a housing project known as the Top City scheme. He faces other charges that have not been disclosed.

Hameed is reported to have been close to imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the main rival of current premier Shehbaz Sharif. He became the head of the ISI in June 2019 when Khan approved his appointment.

After Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament, Hameed was granted early retirement in 2022 and hasn't been seen in public.

Several former premiers, including Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Khan, have blamed the military and the ISI for playing a role in ousting their elected governments in the past.

Khan before his arrest in 2023 had publicly accused the former army chief Javed Bajwa of ousting him under a U.S. plot, a charge that Washington and current premier Sharif’s government have denied. The arrest of the former premier, who remains popular, caused widespread protests and riots and widened his rift with the military.

Ali, the analyst, said there are several major domestic challenges that the new ISI chief would face which include “maintaining the currently cordial civil-military relations, managing the political turmoil caused by Imran Khan’s party, maintaining Chinese trust in Pakistan’s ability to protect Beijing’s workers and investments in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor against terrorist attacks and hunt down both Baloch nationalist insurgents and Pakistani Taliban terrorists."

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