Pakistani Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif on 17 March granted Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu a one-year extension to head the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), a survivor of the infighting that has shaken this branch of the armed forces, which is increasingly mobilised on Pakistan's two fronts with India and Afghanistan, particularly in terms of air intelligence. The fact that only one of Baber's predecessors, Anwar Shamim in 1981, also had his mandate extended as the head of the Pakistan Air Force