Ali Jan Aurakzai

Lieutenant-General Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai (Urdu language: على محمدجان اوركزى Pashto language: علي محمد جان یاکزی ), is a retired three-star rank general officer in the Pakistan Army who served as the Corps Commander of XI Corps and the principle commander of the Western Command. As Commander, he commanded all military combat assets and oversaw the peaceful deployment of XI Corps in the Northern Areas and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Ali Jan Aurakzai
26th Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In office 23 May 2006 – 8 January 2008
President	General Pervez Musharraf
Prime Minister	Shaukat Aziz
Preceded by	Cdr Khalilur Rehman, PN
Succeeded by	Owais Ahmed Ghani
Personal details
Born	Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai 1947 Hangu, Hangu District, Orakzai Agency, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Nationality	Pakistani
Alma mater	Pakistan Military Academy
Awards	Tamgha-i-Khidmat
Military service
Nickname(s)	General Jan Aurakzai
Allegiance	Pakistan
Branch/service	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1965–2004
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	Frontier Force Regiment
Commands	XI Corps Northern Military Command Adjutant General Western Military Command
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Soviet–Afghan War Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 War in North-West Pakistan

Aurakzai was the leading army general who led the Pakistan combatant forces in response to American invasion of Afghanistan as an aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the United States. After retiring from the military, he was elevated as the governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan, from May 2006 until his resignation in January 2008.[1]

Military career

Passing out from Pakistan Military Academy with the 38th PMA Long Course, he got commission (second lieutenant) in 1967 in the 14th Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment (Naubara), Pakistan Army. As Lieutenant, Aurakzai had led a Guerrilla company during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In 1976, as Major, he served as the Forward observer in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In 1983, he served as the Aerial observer and intelligence observer in the Pakistan's western border. He is graduate of Command and Staff College, and was posted in Generals Headquarter (GHQ) in 1985. He served there as an intelligence analyst for the Pakistan Army. Throughout the 1980s, Aurakzai had served as an intelligence and military advisor at The GHQ.

Aurakzai later served as the Commander Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA), Gilgit as a Major-General. In 1998, as Major-General, he was the Vice Chief of General Staff at the GHQ. Court-martial Lieutenant-General Ziauddin Butt held Aurakzai, as he was Vice Chief of Generals Staff, responsible for coup d'état against Former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif.[2]

In April 1999, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and shifted as Adjutant-General (AG), Pakistan Army Generals Headquarter (GHQ). On October 2001, he was made "Corps-commander" of XI Corps, and served as the Commander of Western Military Command. During his military career, he was the leading and most experience general who served under General Pervez Musharraf Administration. Following the collapse of Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Aurakzai was made the commander of Western Military Command. As commander, he oversaw the extensive military operations led by the United States special operations forces. He responded with deploying hundreds of Mountaineering and Infantry battalions to guard the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, many of whom were redeployed as a result of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.[3]

In December 2003, he led the XI Corps, and several supported administrative divisions of XII Corps. He served as the principal commander of the Pakistan's Western Military Command, and had supervised the Pakistan Army's quick deployment in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Under his command, the military saw the action Battle of Wana and, which concluded with Pakistani success. In March 2004, he was given honourable retirement from the Army. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Masood Aslam, who became the principle commander of Western Military Command of Pakistan Defence Forces.

Post-military career

Soon after the conflict, Aurakzai received an honourable discharge from the Army. Soon after his retirement, Prime minister Shaukat Aziz appointed him as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. According to the BBC, as governor, his assignment was to bring stability and security to the FATA region. To complete this task, he sought many peace deals with the local tribal leaders. However, the deals were violated and the violence began in the FATA region. Soon, a bloody tribal conflict between the Pakistan Armed Forces ended the peace deals. A new war in tribal areas ensued. As the conflict grew momentarily, he resigned as the governor. He was replaced by Owais Ahmed Ghani, a former Governor of Balochistan Province.

A tribal Pashtun and belong himself to FATA, the appointment of Lt. General retired Ali Jan Aurakzai as new Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a big relief for tribesmen in FATA and a dream come true for them.[4] The tribal leaders were expressed positive reviews as they had personally knew Aurakzai. Aurakzai sought to end the violence in Khyber and FATA regions. He was one of the pioneers and strongly advocated the Waziristan Accord. According to him, it was a breakthrough and if the treaty proved successful, similar treaties would be signed with tribes in other agencies, Governor Aurakzai concluded.[5]

References

1. Key Pakistan governor steps down – BBC News
2. "Sharif removed Musharraf after a phone call: Gen Butt". Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
3. Adrian Levy; Catherine Scott-Clark (23 May 2017). The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1-4088-5878-3.
4. Lt Gen (retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai appointed Governor NWFP Aurakzai`s appointment dream come true for FATA: Tribal elders
5. Future Surrender and the Expansion of Talibanistan