Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) XII Corps Weapon and Equipment Directorate 85th Signals Division Combat Development Directorate 40th Army Infantry Division
Rana is a prominent attendee of the international Defence Management course in the United States where he gained specialized degree in operational and command analysis in 1984.[1] After his education, Rana began in active duty and was stationed near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where a major battle against the Soviet Union and her ally Communist Afghanistan was underway.[citation needed]
As part of the successful covert operations, Rana remained a vital part in the war and coordinated joint operations in the war.[citation needed] During the 1980s, Rana was made instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics[citation needed] followed by academic professor at the Command and Staff College Quetta.[citation needed]
In the late 1980s, Rana was promoted to 1-star Brigadier General and was made director-general of the Combat Development Directorate,[citation needed] and later he was made directorate-general of the Weapon and Equipment Directorate.[citation needed] In 1991, Rana was promoted to two star Major-General and was made General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division based in Punjab.[citation needed]
In 1995, he was promoted to three star Lieutenant General and was appointed as the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as critical developments were taking place in Afghanistan.[citation needed]
In 1996, a civil war was spread in all over Afghanistan involving the Afghan Taliban and the Northern Alliance. During the course of the civil war, Rana commanded the ISI in support of the Taliban, playing a pivotal role in providing help to irregular hardline forces supporting the Taliban against the United Front (Northern Alliance). In 1997, independent brigades of 40th Infantry and the Frontier Force Regiment moved to protect the Pakistani border from any infiltrations
From 1995 until 2001, Rana was the central planner for Pakistan's war in Afghanistan where he was responsible for coordinating military, intelligence, and strategic operations against the Northern Alliance. His role in the Pakistan war in Afghanistan was vital as he served as the commander of entire Pakistan Army's combatant elements in the Afghanistan. In 2007, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani research scholar, wrote and published a book, titled "Military Inc" providing the accounts of his military involvements in Afghanistan. Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa termed him as Georgy Zhukov of Pakistan, due to his resemblance to Georgy Zhukov[citation needed].
Shortly after General Musharraf installed a military government, Rana was appointed as the Defence Secretary of Pakistan, a post he headed as Lieutenant-General until 2001.[citation needed] In the aftermath of terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, General Musharraf immediately removed him from the post as he was one of the primary figures involved with the Taliban in Afghanistan.[citation needed]
