Jan Mohammad Khan (died July 17, 2011) was a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, who served as Governor of Oruzgan Province from January 2002 to March 2006, member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, and a special adviser to

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

. He was an elder of the Popolzai

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

tribe in Oruzgan and a close ally of Hamid Karzai, who was from the

Popalzai Popalzai or Popalzay (), also known as Popal, are Durrani (formerly called Abdali or Bor Tareen) Pashtuns of Afghanistan. The Popalzai are part of the Zirak confederation of Pashtun tribes. The origin of the Abdali forefathers of the Saddozai ...

Durrani The Durrānī (, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribal confederation of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, ...

tribe.

Early years and personal life

Khan was illiterate. During the war against the Soviets he served as a commander in the Jamiat-e Islami political party of Afghanistan led by Burhanuddin Rabani in Uruzgan. He later joined Jabha-i-Nijat Milli or National Salvation Front, another jihadi movement led by

Sibghatullah Mojaddedi Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (; 27 September 1926 – 11 February 2019) was an Afghan politician, who served as Acting President after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah's government in April 1992. He was the first leader to call for armed resistance aga ...

, and remained with the group until the victory of the mujaheddin. He lost an eye during the fighting and in later years gave differing accounts of how he sustained the injury. He was Oruzgan's governor for nearly four years under President

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...

. Khan quit his job during the Taliban era and spent three years in a Kandahar jail on charges of working for former King Zahir Shah. Khan was a close friend of Karzai's father,

Abdul Ahad Karzai Abdul Ahad Karzai (1922 – 14 July 1999) was an Afghan politician, who served as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Afghanistan under King Zahir Shah in the 1960s. He was the son of Khair Mohammad Khan and brother of Habibullah a ...

, and was believed to have mediated disputes among the Karzai brothers. In early 2002, Karzai appointed Khan as Oruzgan's governor, a position he held until March 2006. Khan was widely seen as incompetent, corrupt, closely tied to the opium poppy trade, and inclined to favor his own Populzai tribe at the expense of Oruzgan's other tribes. Thus no western governments objected when President Karzai replaced Khan as governor, giving him a nominal job in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In fact, Khan continued to meddle in Oruzgan's political affairs, often acting through his nephew, Matioolah Khan, a powerful and feared militia leader in the province. Khan had four wives, from whom he had a total of 18 daughters and 16 sons, the oldest of whom was born around 1981. A fifth wife died under mysterious circumstances amid rumors that Khan had her killed.

Governorship and dismissal

Khan was appointed governor of Orugzan province in 2002. He was replaced by Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib ("Maulavi" is a title indicating religious training) on March 18, 2006. The Dutch military assumed control from the U.S. of the Provincial Reconstruction Team four months after Khan's departure. Khan returned to the province frequently in the ensuing years, meddling unhelpfully in local politics. The Dutch left Oruzgan in 2010, leaving the U.S. and Australia to continue the mission there.

Assassination

On July 17, 2011, gunmen stormed Khan's home in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

and killed him and MP Hasham Watanwal also of Oruzgan. Some sources report that his bodyguards were killed as well. The attack began with a small explosion and bursts of gunfire, according to eyewitnesses. While one attacker was killed, at least one other attacker blew himself up. Some reports indicated a third attacker occupied Khan's home and were involved in an hours-long firefight with the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

and the

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ; ), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The first police officer i ...

. Afghan law enforcement had captured one attacker, who was carrying an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

and a

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

, while another attacker continued the firefight from a bathroom. SAS members of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

were assisting and mentoring the Afghan security forces during the incident. The

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

took responsibility for Khan's killing. They stated that Khan's killing was punishment for all his deeds in the past, but members of the Afghan National Assembly accused

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...

(ISI). Afghanistan often blames Pakistan's ISI for supporting "terrorist" attacks inside Afghanistan.

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (; born 1961, in Panjshir Province), or Bismillah Khan, is an Afghan politician who served as the defense minister of Afghanistan from 2012 to 2015 and for two months in 2021. From 2002 to 2010, he served as Chief of S ...

, the

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

of Afghanistan, stated that the

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s recovered from the attackers showed incoming calls from Pakistan right before conducting the assassination.Khan's killers received calls from Pakistan: minister
/ref> Others recall that Khan made many local enemies in southern Afghanistan over the years, within his own and competing tribes, and his death may have been the result of such a local feud.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Jan Mohammad 2011 deaths Governors of Urozgan Province Pashtun politicians Year of birth unknown Assassinated Afghan politicians People killed by the Taliban Jamiat-e Islami politicians Asian politicians assassinated in the 2010s Politicians assassinated in 2011