Sher Mohammad Akhundzada
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Sher Mohammed Akhundzada (also known as Sher Ahmed Akhundzada) is an Alizai tribal leader who was the Governor of Helmand in
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 ...
from 2001 to 2005. As governor, he implemented various agricultural projects in Helmand, including canal excavation from the Kajaki dam for irrigation and electricity generation projects. He was deeply involved in
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
production and smuggling, leading to his removal from office by the Afghan government in 2005 after lobbying by the British, who were leading counter-narcotic efforts in Afghanistan at the time. He was succeeded as governor of Helmand by Mohammad Daoud.


Early life

Sher Mohammed was born to the Akhundzada family in northern
Helmand province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...
,
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 ...
, which played an important role in the
Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. Belonging to the main tribe of Helmand, the Alizais, they hailed from the district of Musa Qala. His uncle was Mohammad Nasim Akhundzada who became a leading jihadi commander in Helmand. After Nasim was assassinated in 1990, his brother Rasul Akhundzada (Sher Mohammad's father) became governor of Helmand. Another brother, Abdul Ghafar Akhundzada, became governor when Rasul died of cancer. Abdul Ghafar was assassinated 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, 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# ...
on 18 March 2000.


Governor of Helmand

Sher Mohammed Akhundzada was appointed as Governor by the President Hamid Karzai in 2001 and served until 2005. He identified agricultural projects to be implemented in Helmand such as the excavation of a canal from the Kajaki Dam to irrigate northern Helmand, construction of an intake on Musa Qala River to irrigate the arable lands and generate electricity, and construction of an intake on
Helmand River The Helmand river (Pashto/Dari: ; Ancient Greek: Ἐτύμανδρος, ''Etýmandros''; Latin: '), also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand, is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It o ...
in Kamal Khan to irrigate unproductive farms. Sher Mohammad was also deeply involved in the production and smuggling of opium. He also led efforts to disarm the tribal militias in Helmand. This was supposed to pave the way for the creation of a national Afghan army as the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
had requested. However, in reality, Sher Mohammed used this to disarm rival tribes and take control of their territory and opium. This had the effect of weakening Helmand's defenses, leaving it vulnerable to attacks by the Taliban. In June 2005 Sher Mohammad's compound was raided by US forces, which claimed to have found a large stash of opium. Britain—which had been designated the "lead nation" for counter-narcotics activities in Afghanistan—successfully lobbied for Sher Muhammad's deposition before deploying ISAF forces to Helmand. Sher Mohammad Akhundzada acknowledged that his administration had indeed been storing opium in specially built compounds, but claimed that they had done so with the intent of handing it over to the Interior Ministry for disposal. Nobody believed in this explanation, and in December 2005, President Karzai reluctantly replaced Akhundzada as governor with Mohammad Daoud. Although Daoud was well-regarded by the ISAF coalition for his charm, openness, and English proficiency, unlike Akhundzada he had no tribal base in Helmand and was forced to rely heavily on British support to assert influence.


Post-governorship

During a testimony to the House of Commons Defense Committee in January 2006, the removal of Akhundzada was welcomed as a "step in the right direction", that would help further the British effort in Helmand. However, one committee member cautioned that "the removal of somebody who is a governor from office when in the past he has been one of the warlords does not remove him from his ability to cause a lot of problems for the area and for British troops when they arrive" Following his removal as governor, Sher Mohammad sought vengeance by aiding the resurgence of 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 ...
in Helmand. He released 3,000 of his tribesmen to join the Taliban and spread rumors that the British had come to Helmand to steal the local people's opium revenue and avenge their historical defeat at the Battle of Maiwand 126 years earlier. President Hamid Karzai later expressed regret over the decision to sack Sher Mohammad, acknowledging: "I made the mistake of listening to he British And when they came in, the Taliban came." Talking to journalists in
Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
on March 3, 2008, Sher Muhammad Akhundzada claimed that while he was governor of Helmand for four years,
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
did not drop a single bomb on the province, no civilians were killed, and no districts fell to the
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) ...
. "If I were still there, I am sure things would be the same as before," he said. During the 2009 presidential election, Akhundzada, along with Ahmed Wali Karzai, a half-brother of the incumbent president, was accused of buying up voter registration cards in
Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...
.President Karzai’s supporters ‘buy’ votes for Afghanistan election
''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 2009-08-12
"President Karzai’s supporters ‘buy’ votes for Afghanistan election"
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhundzada, Sher Mohammed Governors of Helmand Province Year of birth missing (living people) Living people