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 ...
Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai (
Urdu language
Urdu (;["Urdu"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
: على محمدجان اوركزى
Pashto language: علي محمد جان یاکزی ), is a retired
three-star rank
general officer in the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
who served as the Corps Commander of
XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to:
* 11th Army Corps (France)
* XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XI ...
and the principle commander of the
Western Command. As Commander, he commanded all military combat assets and oversaw the peaceful deployment of
XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to:
* 11th Army Corps (France)
* XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XI ...
in the
Northern Areas and the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Aurakzai was the leading army general who led the Pakistan combatant forces in response to
American invasion of Afghanistan as an aftermath of the
terrorist attacks
The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people.
Definitions of terrori ...
in the United States. After retiring from the military he was elevated as the governor of the
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
of Pakistan, from May 2006 until his resignation in January 2008.
Military career
Passing out from
Pakistan Military Academy with the 38th PMA Long Course, he was commissioned as a
Second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in 1967 in the 14th Battalion of the
Frontier Force Regiment
The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...
. As Lieutenant, Aurakzai had led a Guerrilla company during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In 1976 as a Major, he served as the
Forward observer in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In 1983, he served as the Aerial observer and intelligence observer in the Pakistan's western border. He is a graduate of
Command and Staff College, and was posted in Generals Headquarter (GHQ) in 1985. He served there as an intelligence analyst for the Pakistan Army. Throughout the 1980s, Aurakzai had served as an intelligence and military advisor at The GHQ.
As Major General, Aurakzai later served as the Commander
FCNA in
Gilgit
Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...
. In 1998, still as Major-General, he was the Vice Chief of General Staff at the GHQ. Court-martial Lieutenant-General
Ziauddin Butt held Aurakzai, responsible for
coup d'état against
Former
A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature.
A former may become an integral part of the ...
Prime minister
Nawaz Sharif.
In April 1999, he was promoted to
Lieutenant General and shifted as
Adjutant General (AG) to the
GHQ. In October 2001, he was made Corps commander of the
XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to:
* 11th Army Corps (France)
* XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XI ...
and served as the Commander of the Western Military Command. During his military career, he was the leading and most experienced general who served under the
Musharraf Administration. Following the
collapse of Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Aurakzai was made the commander of Western Military Command. As commander, he oversaw the
extensive military operations led by the
United States special operations forces. He responded with deploying hundreds of Mountaineering and Infantry battalions to guard the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border
The Durand Line ( ps, د ډیورنډ کرښه; ur, ), forms the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, a international land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to th ...
, many of whom were redeployed as a result of the
2001 Indian Parliament attack
The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, India on 13 December 2001. The perpetrators belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) - two Pakistan-raised terrorist organisa ...
.
In December 2003, he led the
XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to:
* 11th Army Corps (France)
* XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XI ...
and several supported administrative divisions of the
XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to:
* 12th Army Corps (France)
* XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XII (Ro ...
. He served as the principal commander of the Pakistan's Western Military Command, and had supervised the Pakistan Army's quick deployment in
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Under his command, the military saw the action
Battle of Wana
The Battle of Wanna was a March 2004 military engagement between the Pakistan Army and members of Osama Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda at Azam Warsak, near the South Waziristan town of Wanna (Pakistan), Wanna. The Pakistan Army, army troo ...
which concluded with Pakistani success.
Post-military career
Soon after the conflict, Aurakzai received an honourable discharge from the Army. He was succeeded by
Lieutenant General Masood Aslam, who became the principle commander of the Western Military Command of
Pakistan Defence Forces.
Immediately after his retirement, Prime Minister
Shaukat Aziz
Shaukat Aziz ( ur, ; born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani former banker and financier who served as 17th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007, as well as the finance minister of Pakistan from 6 November 1999 to 15 ...
appointed him as the
Governor of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. According to the
BBC as governor, his assignment was to bring stability and security to the FATA region. To complete this task, he sought many peace deals with the local tribal leaders. However, the deals were violated and the violence began in the FATA region. Soon, a bloody tribal
conflict between the Pakistan Armed Forces ended the peace deals. A new
war in tribal areas ensued. As the conflict grew momentarily, he resigned as the governor. He was replaced by
Owais Ahmed Ghani, a former
Governor of
Balochistan Province.
A tribal Pashtun and as someone who himself belongs to the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the appointment of Lt. General retired Ali Jan Aurakzai as new Governor of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was welcomed by tribesmen in FATA. The tribal leaders expressed positive reviews as they had personally known Aurakzai. Aurakzai sought to end the violence in Khyber and FATA regions. He was one of the pioneers and strongly advocated the
Waziristan Accord. According to him, it was a breakthrough and if the treaty proved successful, similar treaties would be signed with tribes in other agencies, Governor Aurakzai concluded.
Book
*''Beyond Tora Bora: The Aurakzai Memoirs'', Olympia Publishers, 2017, 370 p.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurakzai, Ali Jan
Living people
Pakistani generals
Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
1947 births
Pashtun people
People from Orakzai District