Said Akbar Babrak (Pashto: سید اکبر ببرک; 1921 or 1922 – 16 October 1951) was an Afghan 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.[2] 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.
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.[6] 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.[7]
In a 1972 interview, Babrak's brother, Mazrak Zadran, denied that his brother killed the prime minister.[8]
Family
Said had two sons,[9] including Dilawar Khan.[10] His wife was Musammat Malmal Bibi.[11]
^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.
^Muhammad Umar Babrakzai was Babrak Khan's grandchild[21] although it's unclear through what father.
^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.
