Uzbekistan’s president has appointed new heads of the state security agency and the defense ministry after the previous security chief resigned on health grounds, the president's office said in a statement
Ikhtiyor Abdullaev, 52, resigned as head of the Service of State Security after undergoing two spinal surgeries, the statement by President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s office published February 11 said.
Abdullaev was seen as a Mirziyoev loyalist who had previously served as the country's top prosecutor.
Abdusalom Azizov, 59, until now defense minister, has been named the new state security chief.
Bakhodir Kurbanov, previously commander of the Tashkent military district and head of the Tashkent police department, has become defense minister.