Haji Mali Khan () is an Afghan

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

politician, and former military commander. Khan has served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

since 4 March 2022. From 7 November 2021 to 14 March 2022, he served as governor of

Logar Province Logar (Pashto/Dari: لوگر) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Puli Alam is the capital of the province. As of 2021, Logar ...

. Prior to his governmental service, he was considered one of the leaders of the

Haqqani network The Haqqani network is an Afghan Islamist group, built around the family of the same name, that has used asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and US-led NATO forces and the Islamic Republic of Afghanis ...

, a "semi-autonomous" offshoot of the

Life

Mali Khan is a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

from the

Zadran tribe The Zadran ( ''dzadrāṇ''; pronounced ''dzādroṇ'' in the Khost-Paktia dialect), also spelled Dzadran or Jadran, Jandran, zadroon, is a Pashtun tribe that inhabits the Loya or greater Paktia region in southeastern Afghanistan (Khost, Paktia, ...

. His sister is the mother of five of

Jalaludin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani () (1939 – 3 September 2018) was an Afghan insurgent commander who founded the Haqqani network, an insurgent group who fought in guerilla warfare against US-led NATO forces and the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan go ...

's sons and hence Mali Khan is uncle to

Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani (, ; aliases '' Khalifa'' and Siraj Haqqani; born December 1979) is an Afghan leader who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister in the post-2021 Taliban regime. He has been a deputy lead ...

. Mali Khan was a senior Haqqani commander in Afghanistan, in charge of troop movements and support between the

North Waziristan District North Waziristan District (, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . The capital city of North Wazirist ...

in Pakistan and the

Loya Paktia Lōya Paktiā (; lit. Greater Paktia) is a historical and cultural region of Afghanistan, comprising the modern Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika, as well as parts of Logar

(the

Khost Khōst () is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram Agency, Kurram i ...

Paktia Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,0 ...

, and

Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...

provinces of Afghanistan). In the 2009–2010, Mali Khan established bases for Haqqani fighters in the

Mangal Mangal (or Manghal, Mangla) is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name * Mangal (singer), Afghan singer * Mangal Bagh (born 1973), Pakistani militant leader * Mangal Dhillon, Indian actor and ...

tribal areas of Paktia Province. During this time he promoted the movement of Taliban forces from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Among his duties was acting as an emissary between

Baitullah Mehsud Baitullah Mehsud ( – 5 August 2009) was a Pakistani militant. He was one of the founders and a leader of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in Waziristan. He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007.Abbas, Hassan ...

and the Haqqanis. He was captured by ISAF forces on 27 September 2011, during a raid in Musakhel District, a Haqqani network stronghold in Khost Province. He was released in a prisoner swap in November 2019. Several months after his release he was reported back at work for the Haqqani network, in military coordination and logistics. When the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

was re-established, following the withdrawal of NATO troops in August 2021, Mali Khan became part of the Afghan government and was appointed as governor of Logar Province.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Mali Living people Taliban governors Governors of Logar Province Year of birth missing (living people) Taliban commanders