Lt Gen Akhtar was promoted as a three-star general and appointed Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as part of a major reshuffle in the military, a development that would help Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif in consolidating his powers amid political instability in the country.
"Maj Gens Rizwan Akhtar, Hilal Hussain, Ghayur Mahmood, Nazir Butt, Navid Mukhtar, Hidayat Ur Rehman" were promoted to next ranks, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Asim Bajwa tweeted.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave his approval to these postings on the recommendations of General Sharif.
Lt Gen Akhtar will take over from October 1 when the current ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam retires along with four other Lieutenant Generals.
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Those retiring are Mangla corps commander Lt Gen Tariq Khan, Gujranwala corps commander Lt Gen Saleem Nawaz, Peshawar corps commander Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani and Karachi corps commander Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani.
Earlier, it was reported that Maj Gen Naveed Mukhtar was also in the running for the top spy job.
Akhtar is a graduate of the Command and Staff College in Quetta, National Defense University and the Army War College, USA, Dawn News reported.
He is from the Frontier Force Regiment and commanded the infantry brigade and infantry division in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
As head of the paramilitary Rangers force in Karachi he launched a major operation against criminal gangs and Taliban militants.
But the military had later replaced him as DG Rangers Sindh with another senior military officer.