The flamboyant former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed is famous for an iconic photograph of him sipping tea at the Serena Hotel in Kabul amid the chaos of the Taliban takeover in 2021. Born into a humble background, the general has been arrested, court-martialed, and accused of many crimes, including extortion and land grabbing. Gen. Hameed has also been charged with indulging in political activities, which has evidently made Army Chief Lt. Gen. Asim Munir nervous. Hameed is a strong supporter of Imran Khan, the popular ousted former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and just as Imran has support among the Pakistani people, Gen. Hameed reflects the former cricketer’s popularity within the Pakistan Army.
Munir had a very contentious relationship with Hameed, and his enquiry indicting Faiz Hameed in the Top City case was suppressed by former Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa. There is no public confirmation, but it is assumed that as the allegations were first made in 2017, they must have been investigated internally by the then ISI chief, Gen. Munir, and Gen. Bajwa, who did nothing about it. Hameed was later able to exact his revenge when he replaced Gen. Munir as the ISI chief during Imran Khan’s prime ministership.