President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday conferred 47 military awards upon officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Armed Forces in recognition of their bravery, leadership and meritorious service in defence of the country.

The Investiture Ceremony was held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and was attended by First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, government dignitaries, and families of the award recipients.

Three personnel were posthumously awarded Sitara-i-Basalat for acts of gallantry and sacrifice — Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shaukat Shaheed, Sepoy Soban Majeed Baloch Shaheed, and Sepoy Israr Muhammad Shaheed, comprising one officer and two jawans who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty.

The president also conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon 44 senior officers of the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force in recognition of their outstanding leadership and service.

Recipients from the Pakistan Air Force included Air Marshal Kashif Qamar, Air Marshal Amir Shahzad, and four Air Vice Marshals — Muhammad Amir Hayat, Shahid Mansoor Jehangiri, Khalid Mehmood and Tahir Mahmood.

From the Pakistan Army, 31 Major Generals and one Lieutenant Colonel were among the honourees, including Major Generals Muhammad Shahid Abro, Malik Maqbool Raza, Sibtain Rafique, Ijaz Ahmad, Malik Mohammad Shahzad, Amer Ashfaq Kayani, Qaiser Suleman, Omer Naseem, Luqman Hafeez, Aamer Amin, Syed Imran Arif, Haroon Hameed Chaudhary, Waseem Iftikhar Cheema, Muhammad Hussain, Shoaib Bin Akram, Yasir Nawaz Janjua, Kashif Khalil, Syed Abbas Ali, Ahmad Kamal, Kashif Abdullah, Rana Arfan Shakeel Ramay, Muhammad Abbas, Anjum Riaz, Atique Ahmed, Naveed Ahmed, Sajid Amin, Muhammad Intikhab Alam, Muhammad Shahzad Khan, Shahid Amir Afsar, Nisar Ul Haq and Jawad Riaz.

Seven officers from the Pakistan Navy also received Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), including Rear Admiral Mazhar Mahmood Malik, Director General Medical Services Rear Admiral Rizwan Sadiq, Rear Admiral Adnan Majeed, Rear Admiral Shahzad Hamid, Rear Admiral Azhar Mahmood, Rear Admiral Shahzad Iqbal and Rear Admiral Muhammad Khalid.