The life of Afghan Gen. Abdul Raziq, whose assassination Thursday was a huge Taliban victory
The Taliban carried out an insider attack on Thursday inside the governor's palace in Kandahar province, killing the provincial intelligence chief, wounding two Americans and barely missing the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Austin "Scott" Miller.
But the attack also killed Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq, Kandahar's powerful police chief.
A fierce Taliban fighter, Raziq, 39, had previously survived several assassination attemps, and was seen as an invaluable US ally, largely credited with pacifying Kandahar province just a few years earlier.
But he was also a fierce critic of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and had been previously accused of torture and corruption.
Here's a look at his life and impact.
Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq was an ethnic Pashtun who was born in southern Kandahar province's Spin Boldak district.
Raziq's friends said he picked up a gun for the first time when he was 17 years old, according to The New York Times, and he repeatedly bragged about killing Taliban fighters.
In 1994, the Taliban killed his dad and uncle, the latter of whom was a fierce Taliban fighter himself, before Raziq fled with his family to Pakistan.
In 2001, after the US-led invasion ousted the Taliban, he returned and began fighting against the Taliban, eventually overthrowing them in the area.
Source: Al Jazeera
Soon afterwards, Raziq became a police officer, operating along the border between Kandahar and Pakistan's Balochistan province. He would quickly rise through the ranks, becoming a trusted ally of the US as he was seen as a fierce Taliban fighter.
Source: The New York Times, Al Jazeera
In 2011, after the Taliban assassinated Khan Mahammad Mojayed, the former Kandahar police chief, Raziq was made the provincial police chief, charged with securing Kandahar City from the Taliban.
Source: The New York Times, Al Jazeera
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