General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Urdu: ????? ????? ??????; born 20 April 1952), NI(M), HI(C), LOM, is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), being appointed on 29 November 2007 until 29 November 2013.
Initially appointed as Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) under then-President Pervez Musharraf on 8 October 2007, he formally took over the command of the army when President Pervez Musharraf retired from his military service on 29 November 2007.
In addition, General Kayani served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and as director of the Directorate-General of Military Operations (DGMO), overseeing major war efforts in the war on terror.
On 24 July 2010, Kayani's commission was renewed for three more years by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani to continue the war efforts against the insurgent outfits.Forbes named him the world's 34th most powerful person in 2011 and the world's 28th most powerful person in 2012.