General Khalid Mahmud Arif NI(M) HI(M) SI(M) SBt LoM (Urdu: خالد محمود عارف 29 December 1930 – March 2020)[2] popularly known as K.M.

[4][5] His career in the army was mostly spent in the military intelligence, and served in the East Pakistan Rifles, briefly fighting in the civil war aided by neighboring India.

[10] After passing the ISSB's examinations, he joined the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul as a cadet in 1947, where he was selected to do advance training on Infantry tactics in Kohat, North-West Frontier Province.

[15]: 19–22 Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1967, he greatly aided towards troop redeployment of the Eastern Command in formulating a battle plan, codename: "Operation X-Sunderbans-1.

[6]: 140  In 1969, he was posted in Dhaka as a martial law officer under the Government of East Pakistan led by Governor Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan in 1969.

[16]: 57–120  In March 1971, he was promoted to full Colonel and witnessed the meeting with President Yahya Khan who decided the launch of the military operations against the rebels in the East should take place.

[11]: 87–90 His efforts and actions in the liberation war in East that accounted his bravery had earned admiration in Pakistan which led to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto accepting recommendations to decorate Major Arif with service award, Sitara-e-Basalat.

[11]: 95–96  He testified in the War Enquiry Commission led by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman, giving accounts of military intelligence failures took place in East.

K. M. Arif ultimately leaked and informed Prime Minister Bhutto of covert coup d'état took place under his appointed-army chief General Zia-ul-Haq, but the latter refused to believe him.

[6] After the coup d'état was completed, General Zia's promoted Brigadier Arif as Major-General and appointed him as Director-General of Military Intelligence (DGMI).

[21] As an army chief, General Arif played a crucial role towards the successful implementation of the secretive atomic bomb programme after removing the civilian administrator, Mubashir Hassan.

[23] He was described as a very uptight and strict army officer by civilian scientists, specifically dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan in his memoirs, did not compromise on his morals and disciplines throughout his career.