Amir Khan Muttaqi
Amir Khan Muttaqi | |
|---|---|
امیر خان متقی | |
 Muttaqi in 2025 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office 7 September 2021 Acting: 7 September 2021 – 15 August 2025 | |
| Supreme Leader | Hibatullah Akhundzada |
| Prime Minister | Hasan Akhund |
| Deputy | Naeem Wardak |
| Preceded by | Haneef Atmar |
| Member of the Leadership Council | |
| Assumed office 15 August 2021 | |
| In exile May 2002[1] – 15 August 2021 | |
| Minister of Education and Minister of Information and Culture | |
| In office c. 1996 – c. 2001 | |
| Leader | Mullah Omar |
| Succeeded by | Noorullah Munir (2021) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 February 1971 |
| Occupation |
|
| Political affiliation | Taliban |
Amir Khan Muttaqi (Pashto: امیر خان متقی [ˈamɪr xɑn mʊtaˈqi]; born 26 February 1971) is a politician serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 2021.[2] He was also a member of the Taliban negotiation team in the Qatar office.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Khan was born on 26 February 1971 in Zarghoon village of Nad Ali District, Helmand Province, his family's roots being in the Paktia Province, getting his primary education in a local school and mosque but because of the communist Saur Revolution, he had to move with his family to neighboring Pakistan, where he was enrolled in a refugees' madrasa and studied subjects such as Arabic grammar, logic, rhetoric, jurisprudence, hadith and Tafsir.[4]
He continued his higher Islamic studies at the Darul Uloom Haqqania, a seminary in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from which many other influential Taliban memers graduated.[5]
He reportedly lived in Banaras Colony in Karachi, Pakistan during his stay and still has properties, real estate and many other business interests in Pakistan.[6]
Political career
[edit]Afghan Jihad
[edit]He was initially part of Maulvi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi's group during the Afghan jihad but later joined the Taliban movement when it emerged.[7]
Different Taliban high positions (1999–2021)
[edit]He has held a series of senior positions within the Taliban movement. In 1999, he served as a member of the Taliban High Council and was also placed in charge of Kandahar Radio.[6] That same year he became Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khan served as Minister of Information and Culture and as a representative of the 1996–2001 Taliban government in United Nations-led talks.[8][9] During that time, a pro-Taliban source says that his "innovative activities" led to "a systematic jihadist publication apparatus against the enemy's widespread media aggression."[10]
On 17 August 2021, just after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, he was reported to be in Kabul talking to non-Taliban politicians such as Abdullah Abdullah and Hamid Karzai about forming a government.[11] Taliban forces took control of Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul on 15 August 2021 during a military offensive against the Afghan government that had begun in May 2021.[citation needed]
Minister of Foreign Affairs (2021–present)
[edit]On 7 September 2021, the Taliban announced the first members of a new "acting" government, three weeks after coming to full power with the takeover of Kabul on 15 August. Amir Khan Muttaqi was appointed as Afghanistan's acting foreign minister.[2] Muttaqi was reappointed on a permanent basis with the rest of the cabinet on 15 August 2025.[12][13]
In December 2021, Amir Khan Muttaqi attended a session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Council of foreign ministers as Afghanistan delegate.[14] The session was attended by delegations from 57 nations with China, Russia, and the United States as guest delegations.[15] Amir Khan discussed with Pakistan prime minister, Imran Khan, regarding the threat of ISIS in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region.[16]
Visit to Darul Uloom Deoband
[edit]
On 11 October 2025, Muttaqi visited the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, located in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The visit was part of his first diplomatic trip to India.[17]
Muttaqi held discussions with senior scholars and students of the Deobandi seminary, and expressed hopes for strengthening ties between India and Afghanistan.[17] Muttaqi was conferred the honorary title of Qasmi and was presented with a certificate granting him the Sanad-e-Hadith (authorization to teach Hadith). A public event was initially planned, but it was cancelled due to security and crowd management concerns.[18]
Writings
[edit]In 2004 he wrote a book which was banned by the Taliban leadership, which thought some of its information could not be aired publicly.[19][20]
References
[edit]- ^ Sayed, Abdul (8 September 2021). "Analysis: How Are the Taliban Organized?". Voice of America. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ a b Pal, Alasdair (7 September 2021). "Factbox: Who are the key figures in the new Taliban government?". Reuters. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ "Former Taliban minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrives to the signing of a US-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29, 2020". Getty Images.
- ^ "Afghan Bio: Biographies : [ID 1158]". Afghan-Bios. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ^ ur-Rehman, Zia (25 November 2021). "Where Afghanistan's New Taliban Leaders Went to School". New York Times.
- ^ a b "Afghan Bio: Biographies : [ID 1158]". Afghan-Bios. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ^ "طالبان مذاکراتی ٹیم میں کون کیا ہے؟". BBC News اردو.
- ^ "AMIR KHAN MOTAQI | United Nations Security Council". www.un.org. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- ^ "Biography of Amir Khan Muttaqi". 6 March 2018.
- ^ "Translation of the biographies of the Taleban negotiation team". Afghanistan Analysts Network. 21 September 2020.
- ^ "Afghanistan: flights resume in Kabul as Taliban 'hold talks to form government'". The Guardian. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Taliban Leader Removes 'Acting' Designation From All Government Posts". Afghanistan International. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
- ^ Malikzada, Natiq (19 August 2025). "Taliban Officials Are No Longer 'Acting'". The Diplomat. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ "The U.S. failed in Afghanistan by trying to moralize with bullets and bombs". theconversation. theconversation. 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "OIC Pimpin Pertemuan Bahas Krisis Kemanusiaan, Ekonomi Afghanistan" (in Indonesian). VOA Indonesian region. Voice of America. 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "Amir Khan Muttaqi downplays Imran Khan's remarks at OIC summit". The News. The News. 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Muttaqi visits Darul Uloom Deoband: The future of Afghanistan-India relations is bright". Afghan Voice Agency (AVA). 11 October 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
- ^ "Taliban foreign minister gets 'Qasmi' title at Deoband seminary, Afghan students raise visa issue". The Times of India. 12 October 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
- ^ van Linschoten, Alex Strick; Kuehn, Felix (2012). An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan. Oxford University Press. p. 448.
- ^ Giustozzi, Antonio (2012). Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field. Hurst Publishers. p. 272.