Saad Akbar Babrak

Saad Akbar Khan Babrak or Saad Akbar Babrak (born 1921 or 1922,[1] died 16 October 1951) was an Afghan militant.[2][3][4] He was an ultra-nationalist Pashtun and was also responsible for the assassination of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaqat Ali Khan,[3] in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, on October 16, 1951.[3]

Saad Akbar Babrak
Born1921 or 1922
Khost, Afghanistan
Died16 October 1951 (aged 29[1])
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
NationalityAfghan
Other namesSaad Akbar Babrak Mardood
Known forAssassin of Liaqat Ali Khan
Spouse(s)Musammat Malmal Bibi
Children2
Parent(s)
Military career
AllegianceMazrak Zadran's rebel forces
Service years1944–1947
WarsAfghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947

Personal life

Saad was born in 1921 or 1922[1] in Khost, Afghanistan.[5] He was the son of Babrak Khan, a Zadran chieftain.[6] When his father died, Saad's brother, Mazrak became the new chief.[6] Mazrak would fight against the Afghan government during the Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947 to support the restoration of King Amanullah Khan. Saad was a minor leader in these revolts, fighting for Mazrak.[7]

Saad had two sons,[8] including Dilawar Khan.[9] His wife was Musammat Malmal Bibi.[10]

Assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan

On October 16, 1951, during a public meeting, Saad Akbar Khan shot Liaqat twice in a park in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The assassin was fatally shot by police officers seconds later. Liaquat was rushed to a hospital where he died.[3]

Babrak’s motives to assassinate Liaqat Ali Khan remain unclear as he was shot dead on the spot. Speculation as to Babrak’s motives seem to lean towards the theory that Babrak was a Pashtun ultra-nationalist who had hoped that Khan’s death would pave the way to a united Pakhtunistan.[3] However, there are many conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan which claim that Liaqat was assassinated on behest of foreign powers. Some say it was a reaction from the Soviet Union for his anti-communist and pro-western policies, while others blame the USA for ordering the killing due to Khan’s alleged non-cooperation on the Iranian issue and an alleged demand for the US to vacate its airbases in Pakistan.[3]

Afghan government has, however, denied any role in the assassination of Liaqat and also disowned the act of Akbar Babrak.[11]

Family
Mazar Khan[12]
fl. late 19th century
Babrak Khan
d. 1924 or 1925		Khan Muhammad[13]
Mazrak Zadran
fl. 1900s – 1972		Saad Akbar Babrak[14]
b. 1921 or 1922
d. 16 Oct 1951		Sher Muhd Khan[15]
fl. 1925 – 1947		Izmair[16]
fl. 1925 – 1945		5 or 14 others[note 1]
Dilawar Khan[20]
b. 1939 or 1940		Muhammad Umar Babrakzai[note 2]
fl. 1980
  1. Sources disagree how many sons Babrak had - Jamna Das Akhtar states that Babrak had 18 sons,[17] while a Pakistani government inquiry titled The Assassination of Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan states that Babrak had 9 sons.[18] David B. Edwards states that Babrak had 2 sons,[19] but this appears to be false, as at least 4 of his son's names are known.
  2. Muhammad Umar Babrakzai was Babrak Khan's grandchild[21] although it's unclear through what father.

The Assassination of the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan: The Fateful Journey

References
  1. Muñoz, Heraldo (2014). Getting Away with Murder: Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and the Politics of Pakistan. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-393-06291-5. The killer was a twenty-nine-year-old Afghan by the name of Said Akbar
  2. "History of Afghan betrayal , fraud and oppression on Pashtuns". defense.pk. 30 May 2020.
  3. Khuro, Zarrar (December 27, 2010). "Unexplained assassinations". Tribune Pakistan. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  4. "A tale of 'political martyrs' in Pakistan". Pakistan Today. 15 August 2018.
  5. Collier's ... Year Book Covering the Year ... P.F. Collier & Son. 1952. p. 4. the Pakistan government declared officially that the assassin had been identified as a national of Afghanistan named Said Akbar from the village of Khost.
  6. Fetherling, George (2011-11-16). "AKBAR, Said". The Book of Assassins. Random House of Canada. ISBN 978-0-307-36909-3.
  7. State, United States Department of (1977). Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1995.
  8. The Assassination of Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan: Report of the Commission of Enquiry. Manager of Publications. 1952. p. 34. Said Akbar had come from the frontier Hotel and that he had with him his wife and two children
  9. The Assassination of Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan: Report of the Commission of Enquiry. Manager of Publications. 1952. p. 21. Said Akbar's son Dilawar Khan admits that his mother occasionally used to go to the pictures with his father.
  10. Pakistan Affairs. Information Division, Embassy of Pakistan. 1951. p. 3.
  11. "Breaking the myths of Pakistan ruining Afghanistan". Pakistan Today. 12 August 2016.
  12. "ببرک خان ځدراڼ/صفيه حليم". dawatmedia24. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  13. Adamec, Ludwig W. (1975). Historical and Political Who's who of Afghanistan (PDF). Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt. p. 130. ISBN 978-3-201-00921-8.
  14. Fetherling, George (2011-11-16). "AKBAR, Said". The Book of Assassins. Random House of Canada. ISBN 978-0-307-36909-3.
  15. Yapp, Malcolm (2001). British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From 1946 through 1950. Near and Middle-East 1947. Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey, january 1947-december 1947. University Publications of America. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-55655-765-1.
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20041217215440/http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/pakistan/pakintrigue.htm
  17. Akhtar, Jamna Das (1969). Political conspiracies in Pakistan: Liaquat Ali's murder to Ayub Khan's exit. Punjabi Pustak Bhandar. p. 224.
  18. The Assassination of Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan: Report of the Commission of Enquiry. Manager of Publications. 1952. p. 11.
  19. Edwards, David B. (2002-04-02). Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad. University of California Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-520-22861-0.
  20. Zaidi, Syed (2010). "The Assassination of the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan: The Fateful Journey" (PDF). nihcr.edu.pk. p. 81. Dilawar Khan was eleven years old boy. He was the son of Said Akbar, the alleged assassin
  21. Brown, Vahid; Rassler, Don (2013). Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973-2012. Oxford University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-19-932798-0.
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