| Gul Agha Ishakzai | |
| Office: | Governor of Da Afghanistan Bank |
| Status: | Acting |
| Term Start: | March 2023 |
| Term End: | July 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Shakir Jalali (acting) |
| Successor: | Noor Ahmad Agha (acting) |
| Office2: | Minister of Finance |
| Status2: | Acting |
| Term Start2: | 24 August 2021 |
| Term End2: | 30 May 2023 |
| Predecessor2: | Khalid Payenda |
| Successor2: | Nasir Akhund |
| Office1: | Principal Finance Officer to the Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan |
| Term Start1: | c. 1995 |
| Term End1: | c. 2001 |
| 2Blankname1: | Leader |
| 2Namedata1: | Mohammed Omar |
| Birth Place: | Band-e-Temur, Maiwand District, Kandahar Province |
| Nationality: | Afghanistan |
| Party: | Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) |
| Occupation: | Politician, Taliban member |
Gul Agha Ishakzai (born), also known as Mullah Hidayatullah Badri[1] (in Pushto; Pashto pronounced as /hɪdajatʊˈlɑ baˈdri/), is a politician in Afghanistan. Since July 2024, he is serving as the Minister of Mines and Petroleum.[2] Prior to that he served as the country's Finance Minister[3] [4] [5] and the governor of Da Afghanistan Bank from March 2023 to July 2024.[6] [7] [8]
Gul Agha was born in Band-e-Temur, Maiwand District, Kandahar Province. He belongs to the Ishaqzai tribe, and was a childhood friend of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar. He has also been known as Mullah Gul Agha, Mullah Gul Agha Akhund, Hidayatullah, Haji Hidayatullah, Hayadatullah.
During the insurgency period, Agha led the Taliban's financial commission.[9] His role within the Taliban organization was to collect taxes (zakat) from Baluchistan Province, Pakistan. He has organised funding for suicide attacks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and for Taliban fighters and their families. He also has links to the related Haqqani network. A number of countries and international organisations; including the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union, have implemented sanctions against him and his associates under counter-terrorism financing measures.[10] [11]
He was a long-time associate of Mohammed Omar; he served as Omar's principal finance officer and one of his closest advisors, living in the presidential palace with him during the first Taliban regime.[12] [10]
He was made head of Talibans' Financial Commission in mid-2013. According to a UN Security Council report in January 2015, Agha, together with other members of the Quetta Shura, showed interest in restarting peace negotiations with the Afghan Government.[13]
On 24 August 2021, he was appointed acting finance minister by the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.[14]