The Assassination of Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi

“Don’t start pulling that string or the whole fabric of our world will be unraveled.”
-Lauren Bacall
as heard from the not-so-good
2007 film
‘The Walker’

ANP stands for the Awami National Party. The ANP’s mission is to establish a prosperous, peaceful and liberal society in Pakistan based on democratic pluralism, cultural diversity, social justice, non-sectarianism, and national sovereignty of the country.

I would like to do a memorial tribute blog today on a righteous, peaceful man known as Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi who recently lost his life on July 15, 2009. (Hajji is an Arabic term of respect for someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca).

Khiyal Akbar was an active worker of the ANP. He was recently visiting the USA in June and July of this year with other Afghan leaders. My cousin was honorably selected to give them a tour of his Native American pueblo while in Santa Fe, NM.

PHOTO: Afghan Leaders, Santa Fe, NM
photo provided by Daniel Moya

I remember seeing this photo of Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi as he was holding my God Daughter, Micaela.

I had commented, “Wow, Micaela looks so cute. And I see we have the love of ‘watermelon’ and ‘world peace’ in common.”

PHOTO: Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi
with Micaela, Santa Fe, NM


Khiyal Akbar Afridi, in his 60s, was playing an active role in restoration of peace to the volatile gun-manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel as head of the Amn Committee. He was the former president of the Tehrik-i-Azad Qabail. Khiyal Akbar was an ardent Pakhtun nationalist, a disciple of Abdul Ghafar Khan and a close companion of Khan Abdul Wali Khan. He had secular ideas, but the arrival of Taliban in his town brought some changes in his ideas.

Afridi’s son said that two men riding motorcycles came to their home on Wednesday evening of July 15, 2009 and wanted to meet his father. He added that when his father came out of the house, the attackers suddenly opened fire on him. The attackers, it was learnt, also opened fire on children and women present in the house.

There seems no apparent reason for his killing. His elder son, Afzal, who had seen the attackers, says that they were Taliban. But since he had no adverse ties with the Taliban, why would they kill him? Only two things might have led to his murder. First and foremost is the internal bickering between the two factions of Taliban in Darra — one led by Commander Tariq and other by Abdul Momin — as he had some leniency towards the former.

Another reason might be his recent one-and-a-half month visit to the USA from which he returned on July 6, 2009. Whatever the cause of his killing, the fact remains that Darra lost another prominent leader, leaving very few leading personalities in the semi-tribal region.

It is sad when a country loses someone that offers much hope. God bless Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi. He has recently been added to the list of ANP martyrs.

As read in an article dated February 11, 2008 at Kyberwatch.com this explains the current relationship between ANP and present day Afghanistan:

After the presidential elections in Afghanistan a fresh and close relationship was established between ANP and the Hamid Karzai-led Afghan leadership. ANP’s three top leaders Asfandyar Wali Khan, Afzal Khan and Afrasiab Khattak visited Kabul several times and got fully state protocol in the Afghan Capital.

In April 2007 a high level gathering was reported in Jalalabad for the inauguration of Baacha Khan Markaz in which Asfandyar Wali Khan was the chief guest while Hamid Karzai also attended the ceremony with an official delegation. Karzai announced a state medal in the name of Baacha Khan and also a package of education and health for Pakistani based Pakhtun community.

After the ceremony Asfandyar Wali and Afrasiab Khattak left for Kabul along with Hamid Karzai where they stayed for one week and held meetings with several American and European officials. In Kabul they enjoyed a protocol of state guests.

After such relationships Taliban and other Jihadi groups seriously noticed that ANP was once again entering in Kabul. These groups wanted ANP to withdraw its support towards Karzai and Americans.

Here are some interesting TIMELINE reports found online against the ANP that have thwarted hopeful PEACE efforts for Pakistan:

Sept. 21, 2007: Former Fed Minister and Central Leader of the ANP, Mohammad Afzal Khan, suffered injuries when his car came under fire while riding with his nephew, Nazim Matta, to his village of Dreshkhela.

Dec. 9, 2007: Abdullah Qureshi was killed in a suicidal attack near the NangoLai area check post. He was passing through the area when the attacker blew himself up resulting in the killing of several other civilians. It was the day when the Labor Party Pakistan’s fourth conference was taking place in Lahore. He and other delegates from the valley could not attend because of roadblocks and military operation.

PHOTO: Abdullah Qureshi


Dec. 28, 2007: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed along with twenty-eight others by an assassin who fired shots and blew himself up after an inspiring Bhutto election campaign.

PHOTO: Benazir Bhutto, b.1953, d.2007


Feb. 6, 2008: In the Karachi area of Suhrab Goth, ANP Sindh Vice-President Fazal-ur-Rehman Kakakhel died ‘on the spot’ when assailants sprayed a volley of bullets on him.

Feb. 9, 2008: Around thirty-one ANP activists were killed in the area of Shabqadar.

Feb. 11, 2008: President of the NWA Chapter of the ANP, Hajji Anwar Shah, was among the dead when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up amidst an ANP gathering with the tribal Lashkar. The Lashkar tribes’ people were raised by the Dawar area to evict foreign militants from their area, which according to them, provoked military operations by the Pakistani security forces and caused them multiple hardships. Among the ten killed was ANP Mirali President Bakhtiar Khan Zeraki.

Oct. 2, 2008: The residence of ANP leader Mr. Isfandyar Wali Khan of the Charsada district of Pakistan was involved in a suicide bomb attack. Five people were killed: Mr. Walikhan’s security guard, two policemen, a Bank Manager of the National Bank of Pakistan and a local ANP leader named Shamsuzaman Khan.

Dec. 2008: The TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) insurgency captured the Swat valley area and is now considered dangerous for tourism.

Dec. 31, 2008: Three persons including a local ANP leader and army personnel were killed by unidentified armed men in different incidents in the Swat valley area of Pakistan.

Jan. 22, 2009: Violent riots broke out in several dominated areas of the Karachi metropolis after the killing of a local ANP leader, Ashraf Agha, age 35. He was shot dead over some old rivalry.

Feb. 11, 2009: Alam Zeb Khan died of excessive injuries when a powerful bomb went off near his car. The ANP became a major target of the outlawed TTP (Taliban) after its PEACE deal with the Maulana Fazlullah collapsed in Swat, Pakistan (a valley and an administrative district in the Northwest province of Pakistan). After the PEACE deal collapse a military operation began to target the TTP (Taliban).

Feb. 13, 2009: TTP (Taliban) senior commander, Hakeemullah Mehsud, said in phone calls to the media, “We carried out this attack and will continue attacks on ANP leaders in the future.” This was in reference to the Feb. 11th killing of Alam Zeb Khan.

Late May 2009: The Pakistani Government began a military offensive to regain control of the Swat valley region.

July 15, 2009: Hajji Khiyal Akbar Afridi, a prominent tribal ANP leader of Darra Adamkhel town was killed by two motorcyclists who called him out of his house near the Zangali Canal. It was a clear case of ‘target killing’.
In Karachi, a spokesman for the ANP has said that killings of ANP workers continue in the city. The government has failed to stop the target killings.

July 26, 2009: Senior ANP leader, Lateef Afridi, said “The Pakistani leaders were in fact protecting the TTP (Taliban) militants.”

Aug. 5, 2009: A former President of the ANP, Shehnshah Khan, 32 and his bodyguard, Hakeen Kahn, 40, were killed by armed snipers at a SHELL petrol station. Shehnshah’s wife was miraculously unharmed amidst the spraying of the bullets.
For more of the latest news, please visit the Awami National Party website about their continued quest for PEACE, DEMOCRACY and DEVELOPMENT:
http://www.awaminationalparty.org/news/


Twenty-five years ago today:

September 2, 1984
Sunday

Wayne, Paul and I ate breakfast at Ole’s Waffle Shop in Alameda on Park Street. We saw a cute blond in line behind us. Wayne started to get all excited.

After the Ole’s breakfast we strolled along Park Street and over to Alameda’s South Shore Beach. There weren’t too many people out.

Then I continued to play ‘Bay Area’ tour guide, taking them to Berkeley as we looked through a lot of the shops there. I wanted to buy things but I kept my cool about it.

I took the Englanders to meet mom and she was babysitting Ashley at the time. It was just as well. My mom got a kick out of hearing their English way of speaking.

I ate dinner at the Lung Kong Chinese Restaurant in Alameda. I suddenly realized I was beginning to get tired of the ‘Paul and Wayne’ snappiness and their overtly outspoken ways.

I decided to go out with the English duo and chose Baxter’s that evening because I was in no mood to go back to The City. We met Theresa and Lorna. Lorna told me she’d call me before 10AM on Monday, Labor Day to see about spending time with us. (She never did). Nope, Lorna Kerr did not call as promised. Oh well…

We also met some girls from Denmark (of all places)! They were okay. It was my first time drinking beer through a straw during this entire night. I was downright ‘wasted’.