Abdul Haq (Afghan leader)

Abdul Haq
Haq between 1999 and 2001
Born	(1958-04-23)April 23, 1958 Nangarhar, Afghanistan
Died	October 26, 2001(2001-10-26) (aged 43) East of Afghanistan
Years of service	1977–2001
Battles/wars	Soviet war in Afghanistan

Abdul Haq (born Humayoun Arsala; April 23, 1958 – October 26, 2001) was an Afghan mujahideen commander who fought against the Soviet-backed People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, the de facto Afghan government in the 1980s. He was killed by the Taliban in October 2001 while trying to create a popular uprising against the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Haq was born in Seydan, Afghanistan, a small village in Nangarhar province, although he soon moved with his family to Helmand. His father, Mohammed Aman, was the representative in Helmand for a Nangarhar construction company, and was relatively wealthy by Afghan standards. His family was well connected, part of the Arsala Khel family, which is a part of the Jabar Khel (a subtribe of the land-owning Ahmadzai tribe). They are all ethnic Pashtuns. His paternal great-grandfather, Wazir Arsala Khan, had once been the foreign minister of Afghanistan; a cousin, Hedayat Arsala, was a World Bank director working in Washington, D.C. who later became Vice President of Afghanistan in Hamid Karzai's administration.

Haq also had two older brothers (Haji Din Mohammad and Abdul Qadir), and one younger brother (Nasrullah Baryalai Arsalai). Abdul Qadir was an early backer of Hamid Karzai, who was rewarded with a cabinet position, before he was assassinated in 2002. Haji Din Muhammad is the leader of the Hezb-e Islami Khalis party.