As Babrak was shot dead by police officers at the scene shortly after the shooting, his motives for the assassination remain unclear.
[2] An ethnic Pashtun, he had previously taken part in the Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947, fighting against the governments of both Afghanistan and British India.
There was speculation among the Pakistani public that Babrak had been enlisted as an agent of the Soviet Union to kill Khan, who had been steering Pakistan towards the United States in the ongoing Cold War.
[6] The assassination had come seven months after the Rawalpindi conspiracy, a failed coup d'état by the Pakistan Army against Khan and his government.
The Afghan government has denied any role in Khan's assassination and stated that Babrak was acting independently.