Osama Askar

Lieutenant General Osama Askar is an Egyptian Army officer. He commands the Unified Command East of the Canal.

Osama Askar
Birth name	Mohammed Osama Askar
Born	(1957-04-17) 17 April 1957 Dakahlia, Egypt
Allegiance	Egypt
Service/branch	Egyptian Army
Years of service	1978 -
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	11th Infantry Regiment
Commands held	141st Special Forces Regiment (2002-2005) 110th Independent Mechanized Brigade (2005-2009) 23rd Mechanized Division (2010-2013) Third Field Army (2013-2015)

Askar was born in 1957 and attended the Nasser Military Academy. He has commanded a mechanized infantry brigade and the 23rd Mechanised Infantry Division, part of the Third Army.[1] Up until 2015 he commanded the Third Field Army.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued two declarations in January 2015. The first changed the force structure of the army by creating a "unified command" to oversee counterterrorism operations east of the Suez Canal.[2] The new command was created on Saturday, 31 January 2015. The second promoted Osama Askar, Third Army commander, to lieutenant general—one of a handful in the armed forces—and placed him in charge of the "unified command."[3] He will also retain his seat on the SCAF. Askar's former deputy, Muhammad Abdullah, has been appointed commander, and Tarek Anwar Helal the chief of staff, of the Third Field Army.[4]