Pak army faces officer desertions

A number of Pakistan Army officers belonging to its Medical Corps, including a Lt Colonel, have 'deserted' while on training courses abroad, a media report has said.
After having graduated from the Army Medical College and commissioned in the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps, these officers when sent to countries like the US, the UK and Australia never came back, The News daily reported.
The Surgeon General of the Pakistan Army has formally approached the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) with the first batch of deserter officers to de-notify their registration.
The PMDC has also been asked to get the registration of these deserters cancelled in the countries of their present residence, the report said quoting sources.

"The actual number of these deserters is said to be quite high but the army authorities have so far communicated the names of 10 officers," it said.
The report says the first case dates back to 1995 and that a majority of the deserters are Majors.
Most of them were sent abroad for higher education or training on government expenses but they opted not to come back and started practising medicine in those countries.
Some of the officers were sent on four-year courses, some had gone for two years training and a few had gone for foreign courses on their own expenses but never returned.