Hakim Taniwal (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

: حکيم تڼيوال) was the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Paktia province Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...

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 ...

until he was killed by a suicide bomber on 10 September 2006, at the age of 60.indystar.com
sidebar ''Suicide bomber kills Afghan governor'' Prior to his governorship of

Paktia Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...

, Taniwal had governed the difficult province of

Khost Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram in ...

, near the border with Pakistan, where al-Qaeda had established training camps during the time of the Taliban and later took refuge in the Tora Bora mountains. Taniwal was an Afghan exile in Australia with his family before returning to Afghanistan to take the governorship. Lacking the military background, and the associated questionable human rights record, of so many of the country's past and present politicians, Taniwal was considered an effective and honest administrator before his death. He brought

Shaikh Zayed University Shaikh Zayed University (SZU; ps, ), also known as Khost University ( ps, ), is a public university in the city of Khost, southeastern Afghanistan. With its original name "Afghan University Peshawar", it was initially established in 2000 in Pe ...

and he signed the contract of

Khost-Gardez Pass The Khost-Gardez Pass, frequently abbreviated as the K-G Pass, and known locally as the Seti-Kandow Pass, or the Satukandav Pass by Soviet forces, is the main land route connecting Khost, the capital of Khost Province, and Gardez, the capital of ...

road for these religious people by his struggles.

See also

Sources and notes

Further reading