Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (February 4, 1917 – August 10, 1980) was the third president of Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan. He has one son, Ali Yahya and one daughter, Yasmeen Khan.[source?]
Yahya served in World War II and escaped from a Prisoner of War camp in Italy on his 3rd attempt, returned to independent Pakistan and fought for Pakistan in 1965.
General Yahya became the Military Dictator of Pakistan in 1969, he was in charge of hosting free and fair general elections. The winner of the election was an East Pakistani Politician by the name of Mujibur Rahman, whose support was in East Pakistan, while the second biggest party headed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had its support in West Pakistan. Zulfiqar pressured Yahya to not hand power. The unwillingness of handing over power and general frustration culminated in the March 25th Massacre or Operation Searchlight ordered by Yahya Khan, marking the beginning the Bangladesh Liberation war. 9 months later Pakistan's rival India joined the war with simultaneously resulted in an Indo-Pakistani war occurring during its own Civil War. The war ended with the Surrender of East Pakistani Forces and a ceasefire in West Pakistan.
Following the war, Yahya Khan handed over the presidency to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he was under house arrest till 1979. He lived a quiet life in Rawalpindi and eventually died in 1980.
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