Mullah Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...

Obaidullah the Akhund (; – March 5, 2010) was the

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

Taliban government of 1996–2001 and then an insurgent commander during the

Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Afghan conflict, and the War on terror , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of th ...

against the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai and the US-led NATO forces. He was captured by

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i security forces in 2007 and died of heart disease in a Pakistani prison in 2010.

Biography

Obaidullah Akhund was born in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province in southern AfghanistanGall, Calotta: "Pakistanis catch a top member of Taliban", page 4. ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

'', March 2, 2007 and was believed to be born in about 1968. He was of the

Alakozai Alakozai ( - meaning ''descendant of Alako'' in Pashto) is a Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan. They are one of the four tribes of the Zirak tribal confederacy of Durrani Pashtuns. Variations Spelling variations include Alakozi, Alakoozi, Alekozai, ...

tribe. Obaidullah Akhund became the Defense Minister of Afghanistan in April 1997, and the second of two top deputies to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement. Obaidullah was seen as the "number three" man in the Taliban.'Taleban leader held' in Pakistan

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, March 2, 2007 In late 2001 or early 2002, Obaidullah surrendered to Afghan

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

troops near Kandahar and was then released as part of an amnesty. He was one of the main Taliban military leaders in 2003 and was named to the Rahbari Shura (leadership council). Abdul Latif Hakimi, who was captured by Pakistan in 2005, said that Obaidullah was one of two people with direct access to Mullah Omar and that Obaidullah had personally ordered insurgent attacks, including the killing of a foreign-aid official in March 2005. Obaidullah was captured by Pakistani security forces in February 2007 in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

, Pakistan.Pakistan braces for Taliban backlash after arrest

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, March 3, 2007 He was the most senior Taliban official captured since the start of the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

in 2001.Report: Pakistan arrests one of Taliban's top three

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, March 2, 2007 Obaidullah was freed in November 2007 in exchange for the release of more than 200 Pakistani soldiers captured by the Taliban. He was rearrested in February 2008 and died on March 5, 2010, of heart disease at a prison in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhund, Obaidullah 2010 deaths Taliban leaders Afghan people imprisoned abroad Prisoners who died in Pakistani detention Pashtun politicians Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Year of birth uncertain Taliban government ministers of Afghanistan Defence ministers of Afghanistan