List of Taliban insurgency leaders

This is a list of Taliban leaders during the insurgency from 2001 to 2021.

This article is about Afghan Taliban leaders at multiple levels. For a list of supreme leaders, see Supreme Leader of Afghanistan § List of supreme leaders. For leaders of the Pakistani Taliban, see Pakistani Taliban § Organizational structure.

Supreme leaders
Main article: Supreme Leader of Afghanistan
NameSituation
Mullah Omar
  • The founder & spiritual leader, who lived in hiding near a U.S. base in southern Afghanistan until his death.
  • Died on 23 April 2013 of tuberculosis. His death was kept secret by the Taliban officials for two years until it was revealed in July 2015 by Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security.[1]
Akhtar Mansour
  • Elected July 2014.
  • Killed in a U.S. drone strike in May 2016 in Pakistan.
Hibatullah Akhundzada

Deputies and ministers
NamePositionSituation
Abdul Ghani BaradarGovernor of Herat and Nimruz Province
  • One of the founders of the Taliban along with Omar
  • Said to be the Deputy leader of the Taliban[2]
  • Captured by Pakistani forces in 2010[3][4][5][6] and released at the request of the United States government in 2018[7][8]
Obaidullah AkhundMinister of Defense
  • Senior leader
  • Captured by Pakistani forces late February 2007[9] and died of heart disease in a Pakistan prison in 2010[10][11]
Wakil Ahmed MuttawakilForeign Minister
Abdul Rahman ZahedDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Allegedly created an impression that he entered Pakistan after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, but had returned before the end of 2001 to his home village in Loghar province;[13]
  • at large
  • Reported to be a leader in the Taliban's Quetta Shura
  • Reported captured in late February 2010
Mohammad Hassan AkhundFirst Deputy Council of Ministers
  • At large; spoke to Reuters by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location on May 4, 2003
  • Reported to be a leader in the Taliban's Quetta Shura.[14]
  • Reported captured in late February 2010.[14]
Mohammad Nabi OmariMinister of Communications
  • Was the Taliban's chief of communications
  • Listed as a member of the Taliban leadership.[15]
Abdul RazaqCommerce Minister
  • Afghan forces captured Razaq while scouring a rugged mountainous region north of Kandahar, April 1, 2003.[16] Razaq's son, Abdul, had been killed on September 5, 2002 as he tried to shoot President Hamid Karzai. Abdul Razaq testified he had merely started out as a civilian, conscripted into Afghanistan's civil service by the Pakistan who was promoted to Commerce Minister, without ever becoming a member of the Taliban.[17] He testified he had taken advantage of an amnesty Karzai offered when the Taliban fell, and had not been involved in politics since the fall of the Taliban.
Khaksar AkhundDeputy Minister of Interior Affairs
  • Staged a public press conference in Kabul, late November, 2001 and denounced the Taliban; by August 2002, he supports the U.S.-backed Afghan government of Hamid Karzai;[18] Assassinated by Taliban in 2006.
Qari AhmadullahMinister of Security (Intelligence)
  • Supposedly killed in late December 2001 by a United States bombing raid in the Paktia province.[19]
  • 12 years after the incident, an investigation by Harper's Weekly alleged that Ahmadullah is alive.[20]
Abdul Haq WasiqDeputy Minister of Intelligence
  • Served as Deputy Minister of Intelligence in the Taliban Intelligence Service.[21]
  • Served as acting Minister of Intelligence when Qari Ahmadullah was away from Kabul performing his duties as governor of Tahar province.[21]
  • Arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on January 11, 2002, and he was held there until 31 May 2014.[22]
Nooruddin TurabiMinister of Justice
  • Allegedly sheltered in Quetta by Pakistani officials by the end of 2001;[13] captured by United States forces and then set free and given general amnesty in early January 2002[23][24]
Amir Khan MuttaqiMinister of Culture & Information
  • Allegedly moved to Peshawar, Pakistan before the end of 2001 and still "hiding out in the Pakistani frontier" March 19, 2002;[13][25]
Ghausuddin
Abbas AkhundMinister of Health
  • In February 2002, he was "hiding with his military force about 5 miles from Uruzgan village";[27]
  • at large
Abdul RaqibFirst Deputy Council of Ministers
  • Unknown (is he the same Abdul Raqib as the official from the agriculture department in 2003?[28])

Governors
Governors
NamePositionSituation
Abdul KabirGovernor of Nangarhar Province
Khairullah KhairkhwaGovernor of Herat Province and Minister of the Interior
Norullah NooriGovernor of Balkh Province
Na'im KuckiGovernor of Bamyan Province
  • A tribal leader of the Kuchi people.[41]
  • Former Minister of Tribal Affairs.[42]
  • Held in Guantanamo for several years.[42]
Ahmad JanGovernor of Zabul Province
Mohammad Hasan RahmaniGovernor of Kandahar Province
Mir MuhammadShadow Governor of Baghlan Province in 2010
Abdul SalamShadow Governor of Kunduz Province in 2010
Abdul Salaam AlizaiGovernor of Oruzgan Province in the 1990s
  • Defected to the government in December 2007.[46]

Other high-ranking officials, ambassadors and envoys abroad
NamePositionSituation
Abdul Salam ZaeefAmbassador to Pakistan
Sayed Rahmatullah HashemiEnvoy to United States
  • Admitted to Yale as a non degree student in 2005
Abdul Hakim MujahidEnvoy to the United Nations
  • Arrived in Pakistan in early December 2001[48]
Hammdidullah, aka Janat GulHead of Ariana Afghan Airlines

Field commanders
NamePositionSituation
Mohammad FazlChief of Staff
DadullahSenior Military Commander
  • Escaped from the siege of Kunduz in November 2001 and reached Kandahar. Took part in the evacuation of Kandahar, then may have returned to his native town Kajai in Helmand province.[29] Allegedly participated (by giving orders via cell phone) in the murder of Ricardo Munguia on March 27, 2003.
  • He was nicknamed by the anti-Taliban resistance before the Taliban government fell as The Lame because of a leg he had lost during fighting.[52]
  • One of the most effective commanders in the resistance, he has been linked to massacres of Shi'a, the scorched earth policy of Shi'a villages in 2001 (about which he once boasted on the radio), the summary execution of men suspected of throwing hand grenades into his compound in 2001 (they were hanged at one of the main roundabouts), and suicide bombings.
  • Killed on May 13, 2007.
Jalaluddin HaqqaniMilitary leader
  • First mujahideen commander to capture a city, Khost, from the government of Kabul, in 1991.[53]
  • Didn't ally with the Taliban until after their capture of Kabul in 1995.
  • Hamid Karzai asked him to serve as Prime Minister, in an attempt to split off the Taliban's moderate wing.
  • His death from disease was announced 3 September, 2018.[54]
Abdul Razaq NafezField commander
ShahzadaProvincial commander
  • A commander prior to the U.S. invasion, he was captured after the defeat of the Taliban and was interred in Guantanamo. He managed to convince authorities he was instead a civilian detained in error, and was released in 2003. He returned to fighting and was killed in 2004.[55]
Dawran SafiField commander
  • Taliban field commander operating in Kunar Province.
  • In October 2009, Pål Refsdal made a film on the daily life of the Taliban and the daily lives of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. This film showed the family of Dawran Safi, including his wife and children.[56][57]
  • Killed in a U.S airstrike on 23 October, 2013, while his wife and two children were killed in earlier airstrikes including other civilians.[58]
Gul Mohammed JangviField commander
  • On July 19, 2006 explained the Taliban's unexpected withdrawal from Helmand.[59]
Akhtar Mohammad OsmaniField commander
  • Killed in U.S. airstrike in December 2006.[60]
Abdul ZahirGroup commander
  • Killed in the U.S. airstrike that killed Osmani in December 2006.[61]
Mufti NematField commander
Sheikh Ilyas KhelCommander
  • Captured in Pakistan as of August 2, 2007.[64]

See also

References
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  2. "Pakistan frees Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in bid to ease tensions". Independent.co.uk. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. Shah, Saeed (2010-02-16). "Afghanistan's No. 2 Taliban leader captured in Pakistan". McClatchy News Service. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  4. "Capture may be turning point in Taliban fight". CNN. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  5. "Taliban leader's arrest a new blow to insurgents". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. 16 Feb 2010.
  6. A White house spokesman shortly afterwards described his capture "a big success for our mutual efforts in the region", Patricia Zengerle (17 Feb 2010). "White House hails capture of Taliban leader". AP Newswire.
  7. Mashal, Mujib; Shah, Taimoor (October 25, 2018). "Taliban Deputy Is Released Amid Push for Afghan Peace Talks". The New York Times.
  8. "Pakistan frees Taliban co-founder at US request; will play constructive role in Afghan peace initiative". National Herald. 9 February 2019.
  9. 'Taleban leader held' in Pakistan, BBC News, March 2, 2007
  10. "Taliban announces death of ex-defense minister in 2010". Fox News. 2012-02-13.
  11. "Taliban announce death of ex-defense minister". Yahoo News. 13 February 2012.
  12. "Profile: Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil". BBC. February 9, 2002. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  13. Former minister says fugitive Taliban leaders living life of luxury in Pakistan, The Guardian, December 24, 2001
  14. Amir Mir (2010-03-01). "Pakistan wipes out half of Quetta Shura". The News International. Archived from the original on 2010-03-09. According to well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the decision-makers in the powerful Pakistani establishment seem to have concluded in view of the ever-growing nexus between the Pakistani and the Afghan Taliban that they are now one and the same and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST) could no more be treated as two separate Jihadi entities.
  15. Benjamin Wittes, Zaathira Wyne (2008-12-16). "The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study" (PDF). The Brookings Institution. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  16. "Fresh fighting in Afghanistan". BBC News. 2003-04-02. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
  17. OARDEC (2005-12-16). "Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 1043" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 64–82. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  18. Paras on alert for storming of Kandahar, The Telegraph, November 25, 2001
  19. Taleban spy chief 'killed in raid', BBC, January 3, 2002
  20. Mashal, Mujib (January 2014). "The Pious Spy: A Taliban intelligence chief's death and resurrection". Harper's Magazine (January 2014).
  21. OARDEC (18 July 2005). "Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Wasiq, Abdul Haq" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  22. "Terror suspects freed by Obama admin. for soldier were labeled 'high risk' in 2008: report - Washington Times". The Washington Times.
  23. US begins transferring terror prisoners to Cuban base: Gunfire errupts [sic] as plane with al-Qaida members takes off, Boston Globe, January 10, 2002
  24. High-Ranking Taliban Leaders Surrender, Are Set Free, Fox News, January 9, 2002
  25. Taliban Vow Revenge, CBS News, March 19, 2002
  26. Taliban commander killed in Afghanistan, Daily Times, May 28, 2003
  27. How the U.S. Killed the Wrong Afghans, Time (magazine), February 6, 2002
  28. "Institute for War and Peace Reporting". Archived from the original on 2005-11-20. Retrieved 2004-06-23.
  29. Carroll, Rory (2001-12-24). "Former minister says fugitive Taliban leaders living life of luxury in Pakistan". The Guardian. London.
  30. Filkins, Dexter (2010-03-24). "After Arrests, Taliban Promote a Fighter". The New York Times.
  31. Jeffrey Dressler; Isaac Hock (6 April 2012). "Releasng Taliban detainees: A misguided path to peace" (PDF). Understanding War. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  32. "Taliban blames foes of killing mine-clearers". Independent Online. 2000-08-07. The Taliban Governor in the province, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, has blamed the opposition Northern Alliance for the attack, saying the assailants have been arrested. The oppositions reaction was not immediately available.
  33. "Red Cross: Families ID detainees in list". USA Today. 2006-04-20.
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  39. OARDEC (August 8, 2004). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Noori, Mullah Norullah" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  40. Mazari Sharif is not a Province.
  41. Archie McLean (2009-03-06). "Afghan nomads now tied to a desperate land". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  42. Tom Lasseter (June 15, 2008). "Guantanamo Inmate Database: Naim Kochi". McClatchy News Service. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  43. "Security council committee on Afghanistan designates further individuals, financial entities relating to resolution 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000)". United Nations. 2000-04-12. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. In a note verbale addressed to Member States on 12 April 2000, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) concerning Afghanistan designated funds and financial resources of the Taliban as per paragraph 4(b) of that resolution and approved a list of entities and/or persons that have so far been identified by the Committee based on information provided by Member States as falling under one of the categories mentioned in the above note, as well as in Press Release SC/6844. The following entities have been added to the list ... Maulavi Ahmad Jan, Governor of Zabol Province
  44. "Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban and Associated Individuals and Entities". United Nations. 1999-10-15. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12.
  45. "The Consolidated List established and maintained by the 1267 Committee with respect to Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden, and the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them". United Nations. 2010-01-25. Archived from the original on 2010-03-06. TI.A.109.01. Name: 1: AHMAD JAN 2: AKHUNZADA 3: na 4: na
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  47. Abdul Salam Zaeef (2010). "Torture and Abuse on the USS Bataan and in Bagram and Kandahar: An Excerpt from "My Life with the Taliban" by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef". Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. We were not permitted to talk to each other, but could see one another while the food was handed to us. I eventually saw that Mullahs Fazal, Noori, Burhan, Wasseeq Sahib and Rohani were all among the other prisoners, but still we could not talk to each other.
  48. "Taleban 'defectors' in Kandahar appeal". BBC News. 2001-12-04.
  49. Taliban in north surrender in droves Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, November 24, 2001
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  54. "Zabihullah (ذبیح الله م ) on Twitter: "Statement of Islamic Emirate r…". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  56. hazco.co.uk. "Taliban - Behind the Masks". www.journeyman.tv. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  57. Behind The Taliban Mask: The Other Side Of Afghanistan's Front-line (2010), retrieved 2023-10-22
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  61. "Information missing". Paktribune.
  62. Obaid Ali (18 September 2017). "Non-Pashtun Taleban of the North (4): A case study from Jawzjan". Afghanistan Analysts Network. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  63. Jai Kumar (4 April 2018). "IS and its disastrous influence in Afghanistan". The Pioneer. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  64. "The Nation". 2008-03-17. Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
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