Akhtar Abdur Rahman[a] (11 June 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistan Army general who served as the 5th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1987 until his death in 1988.

During both Indo Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, he oversaw action with his own unit 45 Field Regiment Artillery (Fateh Qasar-i- Hind 1971) in Sundra and Hussainiwala sectors respectively.

[1] He lost his father at the tender age of four and was raised by his mother, after the family moved to East Punjab in British India.

Later, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier and transferred to the northern areas of the country, where he commanded an infantry brigade in Azad Kashmir.

His unit 45 Field Regiment Artillery was later awarded battle honor of 'Fateh Qasar -i- Hind 1971' by Army Headquarters, as he was instrumental in capturing the Indian fortress of Qaiser-e-Hind.

[7] As early as of 1979, Akhtar received a call from General Chishti and met him at his office in Chaklala Military District (CMD).

They felt that because of Pakistan's strategic location and given the fact that it had warm water ports in the Arabian Sea, it was a prime target for future invasion.

The ISI received billions of dollars in military assistance from the CIA and Saudi Arabia, to train and command the Afghan rebels in a bid to defeat the Soviets.

During this time, General Akhtar developed a highly effective working relationship with key figures in the United States including CIA Director William Casey and Congressman Charlie Wilson.

General Akhtar had accompanied Zia to Bahawalpur in his C-130B Hercules presidential aircraft jet, to witness a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration.

Shortly after the plane crash, the senate chairman, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, became president and announced General Zia's death on radio and TV.

In one of the New York Times investigations,[12] General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, as the head of Pakistani intelligence agency, helped funnel billions of dollars in cash and other aid from the United States and other countries for the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, to support their fight against the Soviet Union.