Northern Light Infantry Regiment

Northern Light Infantry Regiment
Northern Light Infantry Regiment
	Regimental cap badge of the NLI.
Active	1999–present (originally founded in 1913 as the Gilgit Scouts in Jammu and Kashmir, British India)
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Army
Type	Light infantry
Role	Mountain warfare
Size	18 battalions
Headquarters	Gilgit, Pakistan
Colours
Engagements	See list Colonial Battles Hunza–Nagar Campaign; ; Indo-Pakistani Wars and Conflicts Kashmir conflict (1947–present); First Indo−Pakistani War; Second Indo−Pakistani War; Third Indo−Pakistani War; Siachen conflict (1984–2003); 1999 Kargil War; ; Secondary Operations Soviet–Afghan War Operation Cyclone; ; ;
Commanders
Chief of Army Staff	General Syed Asim Munir Ahmad Shah
Colonel Commandant	Lt. Gen. Anwar Ali Haider
Regimental Flag

The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of conducting ground operations in the interest of defending the strategically-important territory of Gilgit−Baltistan, a Pakistani-controlled region that constitutes part of Kashmir, which has been disputed between Pakistan and India since 1947. The NLI draws a majority of its recruits from native tribes present in the nearby mountainous areas who are reportedly less prone to altitude sickness and the cold temperatures that characterize high-altitude mountain warfare, allowing the regiment to conduct its duties optimally.

The Northern Light Infantry is best known for the extensive assistance and training it provided to the Afghan mujahideen (with backing from the CIA and ISI) during the Soviet–Afghan War.

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