Abdur Razzaq Akhundzada | |
Birth Date: | 1958 |
Birth Place: | Spin Boldak District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan |
Nationality: | Afghan |
Occupation: | Politician, Taliban member |
Known For: | Quetta Shura Member |
Mullah Abdur Razzaq Akhundzada (born 1958) is a Pashtun politician who served as the Interior Minister of Afghanistan in 2001.[1] He served as the governor of Herat in 1997[2] and is believed to be a member of the Taliban leadership. He is rumoured to belong to the Achakzai tribe, from a family of Jalaludin village, Spin Boldak District, Kandahar Province; it is also claimed that he is in fact not an Afghan, but is a Pakistani national.[3]
Abdul Razzaq traveled to Pakistan in mid-May 2000 to discuss the extradition of criminals, terrorism, drug trafficking and the Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement.[4] Pakistan demanded the closure of 18 Afghan training camps, where Pakistani militants were believed to be receiving training.
Razzaq was captured in an uprising in Mazar-i-Sharif but later escaped.
The British paper The Scotsman reported that Razzaq was a founding member of the Taliban; that he headed the Taliban's customs department; and was later interior minister. The article further alleged that Razzaq was the number two in a then new Taliban military command structure.[5]