 And President Mohammed Ibrahim has written to the Senate seeking its confirmation of Major General Farouk Yahya as Chief of Army Staff. His request was contained in a letter to the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, and read during a plenary. Major General Yahya's nomination is coming after the death of former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Atahiro. The new COAS was until his appointment, the theater commander, Operation Hadin Kai, the military counter-insurgency operation in the northeast.