Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan NI(M), HI(M), TI(M), SBt (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' was a Pakistani senior army general who served as the 5th

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) ( ur, ) is, in principle, the highest-ranking and senior most uniformed military officer, typically at four-star rank, in the Pakistan Armed Forces who serves as a Principal Staff Officer and ...

of the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

from 1987 to 1988 and as also served as the 7th

Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence The director-general (DG) is head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence service, operationally responsible for providing critical national security and intelligence assessment to the government of Pakistan. Colo ...

from 1979 to 1987. As DG ISI, General Akhtar collaborated with the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and masterminded the resistance network of the Afghan Mujahideen against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, eventually managing to force the Soviets out of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Due to his close friendship with President of Pakistan

General Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

, General Akhtar was widely considered to be the second most powerful man in the country during General Zia's eleven-year military

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

. He

died Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

in the plane crash which also killed General Zia and the US Ambassador to Pakistan

Arnold Lewis Raphel Arnold Lewis Raphel (March 16, 1943 – August 17, 1988) was the 18th United States Ambassador to Pakistan. Early life and education Raphel was born March 16, 1943 in Troy, New York, into a Jewish family, the son of Harry and Sarah (Rote-Rose ...

. After his death, his sons Humayun Akhtar Khan and

Haroon Akhtar Khan Haroon Akhtar Khan is a Pakistani politician who was a Member of the Senate of Pakistan, from March to October 2018. Political career In January 2018, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi appointed Khan as his special assistant on revenue and g ...

joined politics and have been elected as

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and headed key ministerial portfolios several times.

Education

Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan was born on 11 June 1924 in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province. into a

Kakazai The Kakazai ( ps, :ps:کاکازي, کاکازي / ککےزي / ککازي, Urdu, fa, ), also known as Loi, Loe, or Loye Mamund ( ps, لوی ماموند; ur, لو ئے / لوئی مَاموند ), a division of the Mamund clan, are part of ...

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

family. Akhtar's father, Dr Abdul Rahman Khan was a doctor in a government hospital in Peshawar,

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

(present-day

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

). He lost his father at the tender age of four and was raised by his mother, after the family moved to East Punjab in British India. He enrolled in

Government College University (Faisalabad) The Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) is a public university located in Faisalabad, Punjab Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city ...

in 1941, subsequently earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Statistics in 1945 followed by a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1947. He also was key in capturing the Indian fortress of Qaiser-e-Hind.

Military career

Rising through the ranks

General Akhtar Abdur Rahman joined the British Indian Army in 1946, before becoming Captain in Pakistan Army in 1949. After witnessing the traumatic events during the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, Akhtar was appointed as an instructor at the Artillery School in Nowshera. Later, he was selected for an infantry training course with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and was sent on deputation to complete a course in the United Kingdom. Upon returning to Pakistan, he was promoted to the rank of major and posted as a

military adviser Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations ...

to East-Pakistan Army from April 1954 to October 1954. He was later transferred back to General combatant headquarters (GHQ) as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

, a position he held from April 1956 to February 1957. He actively participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and was appointed at IV Corps as an operational field officer. In the 1965 war he gallantly defended the Lahore sector and that led to his promotion to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

and he remained second-in-command of the infantry regiment in Lahore. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

while being stationed with the IV Corps. Later, he was promoted to the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

and transferred to northern parts of the country where he commanded an infantry brigade in Azad Kashmir. In 1971, he was promoted to the two-star general rank of

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and served as general Oofficer commanding (GOC) of the 12th Infantry Division stationed in

Murree Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...

. as GOC of the 12th Infantry Division, General Akhtar was considered very close to Prime Minister

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

and personally received Bhutto whenever he visited the command office of the 12th Division. He did not take part in the 1977 military coup and privately opposed the martial law to remove

Prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

. Six months after the military coup of 1977 he was appointed as

adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

at the

General Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

for the next two years. During this time, General Akhtar became aware of a conspiracy in which Lieutenant-General Faiz Ali Chishti of

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

, a close associate of General Zia-ul-Haq, secretly became rebellious and conspired to stage a military coup in the country. As early as of 1979, Akhtar received a call from General Chishti and met him at his office in Chaklala Military District (CMD). At this meeting, General Chishti informed him of the conspiracy that aimed to topple General Zia-ul-Haq and sought his assistance. According to the News International's intelligence unit, Chishti was under the impression that since Rahman had not been promoted, he would accept this invitation; especially when he was promised that after the coup worked out successfully, he would not only be promoted but would also become one of the pillars of the new regime. After returning to the GHQ, General Akhtar contacted General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

and foiled the plot against Zia. In June 1979 after the counter-coup had been foiled,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

General Zia-ul-Haq awarded General Akhtar a promotion to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and appointed him Director General of the ISI.

Soviet–Afghan War

When the Soviet Union deployed its 40th Army in Afghanistan, Pakistan's top military brass led by General Akhtar believed that

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

would be the

's next target. They felt that because of Pakistan's strategic location and given the fact that it has warm water ports in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

, it was a prime target for future invasion. Considering the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

invasion of

threatened Pakistan's national security, Pakistan's premier intelligence agency the ISI headed by General Akhtar started providing financial, military, and strategic assistance to the Afghan mujahideen. The ISI received billions of dollars in military assistance from the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

to train and command the Afghan rebels in a bid to defeat the Soviets. This covert operation was known as

Operation Cyclone Operation Cyclone was the code name for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program to arm and finance the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1992, prior to and during the military intervention by the USSR in suppor ...

, and was executed with the CIA providing the money and weapons, the ISI training and commanding the Afghan Mujahideen groups, and the Mujahideen conducting guerrilla warfare, ultimately leading to the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. During this time, General Akhtar developed a highly effective working relationship with key figures in the United States including

CIA Director The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

William Casey William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agen ...

and Congressman Charlie Wilson. During his tenure as DG ISI, General Akhtar's influence on Pakistan's atomic weapons program grew and he worked tirelessly to collect around him colleagues who were equally dynamic and determined to make the ISI an organisation that would influence the domestic and external policies of the country and it was under him that the ISI became recognized one of the most powerful spy agencies in the world. In 1987, at the pinnacle of his career after having achieved remarkable success as in the Afghan war and protecting Pakistan's Nuclear Program, General Akhtar was promoted to the

four-star rank A four-star rank is the rank of any four-star officer described by the NATO OF-9 code. Four-star officers are often the most senior commanders in the armed services, having ranks such as (full) admiral, (full) general, colonel general, army ge ...

and appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the highest ranking four-star assignment in the

Death

On 17 August 1988, General Akhtar died in a plane crash along with several other high-profile casualties including President of Pakistan

and US Ambassador to Pakistan

. General Akhtar had accompanied General Zia to

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

in his C-130B Hercules Presidential aircraft to witness a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration. After the Generals witnessed the demonstration, the aircraft departed from Bahawalpur Airport and was expected to reach Islamabad International Airport. 10Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air claimed it was flying erratically and then nosedived and exploded on impact, killing all 31 passengers on board. Shortly after the plane crash, the Senate chairman

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...

became president and announced Zia's death on radio and TV. 13There is speculation that various state intelligence agencies including the American CIA, Soviet

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

, Indian

RAW Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

, Israeli MOSSAD, and Afghan

KHAD ''Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati'' (Pashto/ prs, خدمات اطلاعات دولتی literally "State Intelligence Agency", also known as "State Information Services"https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/482947db2.pdf or "Committee of State Security". U ...

(in retaliation for Pakistani support of the mujahideen in Afghanistan) or an alliance of the four countries intelligence agencies along with dissident groups within the Pakistan Army were involved in the incident. Shortly after the crash, a board of inquiry was set up to investigate it. It concluded 'the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the aircraft'. It also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated the passengers and crew, which would explain why no Mayday signal was given. 16There was also speculation into other facts involving the details of the investigation. A flight recorder (black box) was not located after the crash and previous C-130 aircraft did have them installed. To this day, the cause of the plane crash remains a mystery and has given rise to many conspiracy theories.

Corruption Charges

In one of The New York Times investigations, General Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan, as the head of Pakistani intelligence agency, helped funnel billions of dollars in cash and other aid from the United States and other countries to the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan to support their fight against the Soviet Union. The same report mentioned that a Credit Suisse account was opened in 1985, in the name of three General Khan's sons. Years later, the account would grow to hold $3.7 million, the leaked records show. According to the paper, "Two of the general's sons, Akbar and Haroon Khan, did not respond to requests for comment from the reporting project. In a text message, a third son, Ghazi Khan, called information about the accounts "not correct," adding, "The content is conjectural." The claims remain unproven......

Awards and decorations

Books mentioning General Akhtar

* ''Fateh'' by Haroon-ur-Rasheed * ''Silent soldier'' by Mohammad Yousaf * ''The Bear Trap'' by Mohammad Yousaf and Mark Adkin * ''Charlie Wilson's War'' by George Crile * ''Ghost Wars'' by Steve Coll * ''A Case of Exploding Mango's'' Mohammad Hanif * ''Profiles of Intelligence'' by Brigadier Syed A. I. Tirmizi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Akhtar Abdul 1924 births 1988 deaths Pakistani generals Recipients of Hilal-i-Jur'at Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence Chairmen Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Pashtun people Pakistani anti-communists Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Pakistani financiers Corruption in Pakistan People of the Soviet–Afghan War Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistan Army Artillery Corps officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1988 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Pakistan