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Said Akbar Babrak

Said Akbar Babrak (Pashto: سعید اکبر ببرک; 1921 or 1922 – 16 October 1951) was an Afghan militant who assassinated the first Pakistani prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan in the city of Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951. Khan, who had become the country's prime minister immediately after the partition of India in 1947, was addressing a crowd of more than 100,000 people at Rawalpindi's Company Bagh when Babrak approached him and shot him twice in the chest; Khan later succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. As Babrak was shot dead by police officers at the scene shortly after the shooting, his motives for the assassination remain unclear. An ethnic Pashtun, he had previously taken part in the Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947, fighting against the governments of both Afghanistan and British India.

Early life and activities

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

Assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan

On October 16, 1951, during a public meeting, Said Akbar Khan shot the Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan twice in a park in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The assassin was fatally shot by police officers seconds later. Liaquat was rushed to a hospital, where he died after a blood transfusion.

Motives

Babrak's motives for the assassination have not been resolved, as he was shot dead by police shortly after attacking Khan.

The lack of evidence has led to the rise of many conspiracy theories regarding Khan's assassination, particularly theories that put forward the idea that he was killed at the behest of foreign powers. There was speculation among the Pakistani public that Babrak had been enlisted as an agent of the Soviet Union to kill Khan, who had been steering Pakistan towards the United States in the ongoing Cold War. However, others theories have instead alleged that the assassination was orchestrated by the United States. The assassination had come seven months after the Rawalpindi conspiracy, a failed coup d'état by the Pakistan Army against Khan and his government.

The Afghan government has denied any role in Khan's assassination and stated that Babrak was acting independently.