Mohammad Daoud Sultanzoy ( prs, محمد داوود سلطان‌زوی born 13 September 1952), is an Afghan politician, pilot and television presenter who served as Mayor of Kabul from 2020 to 2021; the Fall of Kabul (2021) occurred during his incumbency. He was previously elected to represent

Ghazni Province Ghazni (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most populous province. Th ...

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper ...

, the lower house of its National Legislature, in 2005. He is a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

from the

Ghilzai The Ghiljī ( ps, غلجي, ; fa, خیلجی, Xelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settl ...

tribe. He was spokesperson of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai during 2019 elections.

History

Daoud Sultanzoy was born 13 September 1952 in Kabul. He graduated from

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in engineering management in 1973. He trained as a pilot at the

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

Training Center and the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation Training Center. He held an aircraft Airline Transport Pilot diploma (equivalent to MA/MS) and was certified to fly more than eight types of jet aircraft with more than 32000 hours of flying worldwide. Sultanzoy fought against the Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the early 1980s, during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...

. After he was wounded, he returned to the United States, where he became a pilot and in management for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

. He actively participated in Afghan political and civil circles during the 1980s and 1990s. Daoud Sultanzoy returned to Afghanistan following the US led invasion in 2001, and was elected as a member of the 2002 loya jirga. He was later elected as a member of the

for Ghazni province in the 2005 parliamentary election. During his term he served as the Chairman of the ''Committee for National Economy, Rural Development, Agriculture and NGOs''. He also took part in numerous Presidential delegations to countries such as Germany, France, Pakistan, India, Russia, Iran, China, the US and many other European and Asian countries. Gave lectures and seminars in European ''think tanks'' in Germany, France, Italy, The European Union, India. More recently, Sultanzoy hosted a show on

Tolo TV TOLO ( fa, طلوع, , sunrise) is a commercial television station operated by MOBY Group in Afghanistan. Launched in 2004, it became one of the first commercial stations in the country and laid the foundation for an accessible media outlet by o ...

, and ran in the

2014 Afghan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 5 April 2014, with a second round held on 14 June. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai was not eligible to run due to term limits. The registration period for presidential nominations was open from ...

. He was headed the ''Afghan Airfields Economic Development Commission'' (AAEDC). On 1 April 2020, he was appointed as the Mayor of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

by President Ashraf Ghani. On 15 August 2021, after Fall of Kabul of 2021, Daoud Sultanzoy has released a video in which he said that the Taliban leadership contacted him and asked him to continue working as Mayor of

Municipality and "''to provide the necessary services to the people''" The Taliban named a replacement mayor on 24 August,

Hamdullah Nomani Hamdullah Nomani is the mayor of Kabul since August 24, 2021, replacing Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy. He is also served the same position during the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001). Born in Sipayaw village, Andar District, Ghazni Provinc ...

References

1952 births Living people 21st-century Afghan politicians Commercial aviators Kabul University alumni Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Pashtun people People from Kabul Mayors of Kabul People of the Soviet–Afghan War Politicians of Ghazni Province United Airlines people {{Afghanistan-politician-stub