Rahimullah Yusufzai (رحیم اللہ یوسُفزئی) (10 September 1954 – 9 September 2021) was a Pakistani

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, political and security analyst, best known for having interviewed

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, and Afghan Taliban leader

Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...

. He was also a war correspondent.

Early life and education

Yusufzai was born on 10 September 1954, in

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# ...

in Shamozai village of Mardan District in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

. He received his early education at his village primary school and then in public schools in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

. Rahimullah also studied at the D.J. Sindh College and the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

Career

Yusufzai was among the first journalists to report on the Taliban and visited

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

, Afghanistan in 1995. He was one of the few bona fide experts on Afghanistan, having reported on the country since the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 2016, he also frequently appeared on

Geo News Geo News () is a old technology foundation Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. It was launched in October 2002 as the news and current affairs program was under its flagship channel Geo TV, which later in 2004, Geo TV decided ...

TV channel as a news analyst.Profile of Rahimullah Yusufzai on BBC News website
Published 6 February 2014, Retrieved 26 November 2021 He was the editor of the Jang Group's ''The News International'' at the Peshawar Bureau and was an op-ed writer for the monthly Newsline. Rahimullah is especially noted for holding the last interview with

. He also served as a correspondent in Pakistan for ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine. Rahimullah was also a correspondent of BBC's

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

services in

province of Pakistan.

Awards and recognition

Yusufzai was considered an authority on Afghan affairs and on the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Acknowledging his achievements in journalism, the government of Pakistan first awarded him the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) in 2005. Then he received

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

Award (Star of Excellence) from the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

for his achievements in the field of journalism on 23 March 2010.

Death

Yusufzai died from cancer on 9 September 2021 after battling his deadly cancer for 15 long months. Among his survivors are four sons and two daughters. His funeral prayer was offered in his hometown Inzargi, Katlang, Mardan District and laid to rest on 10 September 2021.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan, Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Federal Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and others offered condolences upon his death.

References

External links

Sharif tells committee to initiate talks with Taliban
Zee News India website

Rediff.com website, Published 3 April 2010
Face to face with Osama
The Guardian (newspaper), Published 25 September 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Yusufzai, Rahimullah 1954 births 2021 deaths Pashtun journalists Pakistani male journalists People from Mardan District Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz University of Karachi alumni People from Peshawar Pakistani television journalists Pakistani war correspondents D. J. Sindh Government Science College alumni BBC people