Khalid Khawaja
Squadron LeaderColonel
Khalid Khawaja
Khawaja in c. 2006
NicknameColonel Khawaja
Born3 July 1951[1]
Jaranwala, Punjab province
DiedApril 30, 2010 (aged 58-59)
Mirali, North Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
Cause of deathAssassination (gunshot wounds)
Buried
H-11 graveyard, Islamabad, Pakistan
Allegiance Pakistan
Branch
Service years1971–1986
RankSquadron Leader
Unit16 Squadron Panthers26 Squadron Black Spiders
Conflicts

Squadron leaderColonelKhalid Khawaja (Urdu: خالد خواجہ; 3 July 1951 – April 30, 2010) was Pakistanifighter pilot and intelligence officer-turned human rights activist,[2] who served as the Squadron leader of Pakistan Air Force's No. 16 Squadron Panthers, and was also associated with both the Special Service Wing (SSW) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).[3][4][5]

As Squadron Leader, he led several combat missions against the Indian Air Force during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, commanding Pakistan Air Force's elite No. 26 Squadron and later the No. 16 Squadron Panthers.[3]

A veteran of Soviet–Afghan War, Khawaja described himself as a close associate of Osama bin Laden in the early days of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union.[6] He was also described as having close ties to Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the leader of the Lal Masjid.[7][8][3]

He was also the co-founder and spokesperson for the Defence of Human Rights Pakistan (DHR), a human rights organization led by Abdul Rashid Ghazi.[9][10][3]

He was assassinated on April 30, 2010 in the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali.[11][12]

Military career

Khawaja gained commission in Pakistan Air Force in January 1970. He completed his aviation training to become an aviator of Alouette III, and was selected to be sent to PAF Special Warfare School.[7]

Upon graduation in June 1971, Khawaja was commissioned as a flying officer and selected for flight training.[7]

During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, he led several combat missions against the Indian Air Force, commanding Pakistan Air Force's elite No. 26 Squadron, aided by the army's elite Special Service Group .[7]

In 1985, he was assigned to the Special Service Wing (SSW) and later to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). During his time, he also became involved in operations supporting the Afghan mujahideen against Soviet forces in the Soviet–Afghan War. He later claimed to have met prominent figures including Osama bin Laden, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and Mullah Omar.[6]

In 1987, President and Chief of Army StaffGeneralZia-ul-Haq dismissed him from his position. The official reason cited was his "outspoken views." Subsequently, the Judge Advocate General Branch of the Pakistan Army issued him a forced retirement.[13]

Defense of Human Rights Pakistan

Khawaja was a close friend of Lal Masjid's Abdul Rashid Ghazi and was the co-founder of the rights group "Defense of Human Rights Pakistan" (Urdu: تحافظ حقوق إنساني), Khawaja served as the organization's spokesman while Ghazi was the first chairman.[14] The Associated Press also named Khawaja as a spokesman for a Pakistani human rights group named Defense of Human Rights.[15]

Molly Campbell

Khawaja and Ghazi both also became involved in the recovery case of alleged child abduction victim Molly Campbell, providing her shelter at the Jamia Hafsa during her parental custody trial.[16][17][18]

The Khadr family

Khawaja was also a noted friend of the Egyptian-CanadianKhadr family, Khawaja spoke in their defense saying they were being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities because of deference to the United States and Islamophobia.[19] He has also said that Canada is "selfish and self-centered" and deserves to be bombed by terrorists.[20]

Deborah Scroggins, author of the book Wanted Women: Faith, Lies & The War on Terror: The lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aaafia Siddiqui, describes meeting Zaynab while she was a house-guest of Khawaja, in Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2004.[21]

Asia Times comments

We don't believe in killing innocent people, but we would certainly like to send you into the Stone Age the same way you have sent us into the Stone Age...a slave normally hates his master

— Khalid Khawaja, 2005[22]

Michelle Shephard during an interview with Khalid Khawaja in Karachi, Pakistan.

A November 9, 2005, article in the Asia Times described Khawaja as the "point man" for Mansoor Ijaz, which it describes as "...a US citizen of Pakistani origin with close ties to the Republican Party".[23]

The Asia Times says that Ijaz is negotiating a peace with the remaining elements of the Taliban, with Khawaja's assistance.[19]

Lal Masjid Standoff

In January 2007, Lal Masjid's imam, Abdul Aziz, and his wife, Umme Hassan, launched a campaign to enforce their interpretation of Sharia law. The campaign involved the seizure of a children's library and vigilante actions against activities they deemed "un-Islamic," leading to a standoff with the Pakistani government. During the crisis, Aziz's brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was also involved in the mosque's leadership, enlisted their mutual friend Khawaja to mediate and persuade Aziz to end the standoff and vacate the library. Khawaja's mediation efforts, however, were unsuccessful.[7][24]

Khawaja was arrested In February 2007 outside the Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The initial charges against him were under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly distributing inflammatory material, accusations he publicly denied and told the court that "intelligence officials" had apprehended him outside his house, covering his face with cloth and forcing him into a vehicle.[10] After months of pressure and court petitions, he was finally released on June 23, 2007.[25]

On July 4, 2007, the day after the Pakistani military's siege of the Lal Masjid began, he was rearrested. The police, citing a First Information Report (FIR) that linked him to the event, claimed an eyewitness had seen him firing from the mosque and requested a ten-day physical remand for investigation. Khawaja denied the charges, stating he was not present at the mosque during the shootout. A judicial magistrate authorized a seven-day physical remand; however, the Supreme Court of Pakistan subsequently intervened and ordered his release from Adiala Jail.[26][27]

Assassination

On March 31, 2010, Khawaja was abducted from the outskirts of a city in Waziristan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan by unidentified gunmen. He was in the region with fellow former official Amir Sultan Tarar and journalist Asad Qureshi.[28] Days after his disappearance, a previously unknown group calling itself "Asian Tigers" claimed responsibility for his capture.[29]

After a weeks-long captivity, on April 30, 2010, Khawaja's body was found in North Waziristan town of Mir Ali, He had been shot dead and a note was attached to it, reiterating the accusations of spying.[12][30]

Khawaja was buried at the H-11 graveyard in Islamabad and Maulana Abdul Aziz, the imam of Lal Masjid, led his funeral prayers and later eulogized him in an interview as "a person who always fought for his religion."[11][31]

References

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  1. ^Geo Television NetworkArchived 2010-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^"From Jihad to Human Rights: The Life and Death of Taliban Middleman Khalid Khawaja - Jamestown". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  3. ^ abcd"From Jihad to Human Rights: The Life and Death of Taliban Middleman Khalid Khawaja - Jamestown". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  4. ^"Jang Group Online". Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  5. ^Taken for a ride in the 'war on terror', Asia Times, December 9, 2005.
  6. ^ abBush breeds a million bin LadensArchived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, Al-Jazeerah_Information_Center, March 14, 2003.
  7. ^ abcdeRaftar. The Man Who Was Killed For Knowing Too Much! | The Untold Story Of Khalid Khawaja. Retrieved 2025-10-07 – via YouTube.
  8. ^Letter (2010-05-09). "Khalid Khawaja, a great man". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  9. ^"Government attitude towards missing persons deplored". Brecorder. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  10. ^ ab"Police produce detained human rights activist in court". Brecorder. 2007-01-28. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  11. ^ abexpress (2010-05-02). "Khalid Khawaja laid to rest in Islamabad". The Express Tribune.
  12. ^ ab"Former ISI official's body found in FATA – The Express Tribune". Archived from the original on 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  13. ^The pawns who pay as powers play, Asia Times, June 22, 2005.
  14. ^Schmidle, Nicholas (2010-05-04). "In a Ditch". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  15. ^2 Pakistanis in Guantanamo Bay should be released, rights group saysArchived 2006-11-24 at the Wayback Machine, International Herald Tribune, November 23, 2006.
  16. ^"Missed court appearance; INT Abdur Rashid Ghazi speaking on mobile..."Getty Images. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  17. ^"Red Mosque Bloodbath: A Potent Reminder of the Fatal Flaws | CRSS". Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  18. ^"The Molly Campbell abduction scandal: from custody battle to international drama". the Guardian. 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  19. ^ abBell, Stewart. National Post, "Khadrs Reveal Bin Laden Ties", January 24, 2004.
  20. ^Bell, Stewart. National Post, "Al-Qaeda says Canada deserves bombing", May 15, 2004.
  21. ^Deborah Scroggins (2012). Wanted Women -- Faith, lies & the war on terror: The lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aaafia Siddiqui. HarperCollins. pp. 303, 304, 305–306, 428. ISBN 9780062097958. Retrieved 2013-06-16. She had then grown up with the children of the world's most militant jihadis and had later spent her youth in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a period she described as "the best five years of my life."
  22. ^Bell, Stewart. "The Martyr's Oath", 2005.
  23. ^Time to talk: US engages the Taliban, Asia Times, November 22, 2005.
  24. ^"Library occupation: conflicting claims over settlement accord". Brecorder. 2007-02-12.
  25. ^Khawaja denied bail, Daily Times (of Pakistan), February 4, 2007.
  26. ^"Khalid Khwaja remanded to police custody". Brecorder. 2007-07-07.
  27. ^"Khwaja's murder points to home truths – Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)".
  28. ^admin (2010-05-03). "The Kidnapping and Execution of Khalid Khwaja in Pakistan". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
  29. ^Walsh, Declan (2010-04-30). "Taliban splinter group executes Pakistani spy turned jihadi". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  30. ^Roggio, Bill (2010-04-30). "Former ISI officer executed in northwestern Pakistan". FDD's Long War Journal.
  31. ^"A death amid blurred allegiances". The Washington Post. 2010-05-03. ISSN 0190-8286.
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