Ahmed Wali Karzai

Ahmed Wali Karzai was an Afghan politician who served as Chairman of the Kandahar Provincial Council from 2005 until his death. He was the younger paternal half-brother of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and an elder of the Popalzai tribe. Wali Karzai formerly lived in the United States, where he managed a restaurant owned by his family. He returned to Afghanistan following the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001. He was a key ally of the US military in the country's south and operated a network of political clans that used state institutions to protect and enable licit and illicit enterprises. He was accused of being involved in the Afghan opium trade, corruption, and election fraud, as well as being on the CIA payroll. He denied all the allegations and called them political propaganda. He was assassinated by one of his close bodyguards, Sardar Mohammad, on 12 July 2011, in his home in Kandahar. He was mourned by many Afghans who considered him a powerful and influential leader.