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MullahMohammad Hasan Akhund
محمد حسن آخوند
Akhund in 2022
Acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 September 2021
Supreme Leader	Hibatullah Akhundzada
Deputy	Abdul Ghani Baradar (acting) Abdul Salam Hanafi (acting) Abdul Kabir (acting)
Preceded by	Abdul Kabir (acting, 2001)
Member of the Leadership Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 August 2021
In exile May 2002 – 15 August 2021
Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan
In office 27 September 1996 – 13 November 2001
Prime Minister	Mohammad Rabbani Abdul Kabir (acting)
Leader	Mohammed Omar
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Abdul Ghani Baradar (acting, 2021) Abdul Salam Hanafi (acting, 2021)
Foreign Minister of Afghanistan
In office 1998 – October 27, 1999
Prime Minister	Mohammad Rabbani
Leader	Mohammed Omar
Preceded by	Abdul Jalil
Succeeded by	Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil
Personal details
Born	c. 1945 – c. 1958 Pashmul, Panjwayi District (now in Zhari District), Kandahar Province, Kingdom of Afghanistan
Occupation	Politician, Taliban member
Political affiliation	Taliban

Mohammad Hasan Akhund (born c. 1945 – c. 1958) is an Afghan mullah, politician and Taliban leader who is currently the acting prime minister of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime since 7 September 2021.

Akhund is one of the founding members of the Taliban and has been a senior leading member of the movement. In the first Taliban government (1996–2001), he served as the deputy foreign minister.

Early life and education

Akhund is from southern Afghanistan. According to UN Security Council data, he was born in Pashmul, which at the time of his birth was in Panjwayi District, but is now in Zhari District, in Kandahar Province of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. The UN has two estimates for his year of birth, being approximately 1945–1950 and approximately 1955–1958.

He studied in various Islamic seminaries in Afghanistan. Unlike many Taliban leaders, Akhund did not participate in the Soviet–Afghan War.

Political career

Akhund is one of the oldest members of the Taliban, and was a close associate of Mohammed Omar, the first leader of the movement. During the Taliban rule (1996–2001), in addition to being the Deputy Prime Minister, he also served as the foreign minister of Afghanistan from 1998 to 27 October 1999. Like many other senior Taliban, he is subject to United Nations sanctions related to the sheltering of terrorist groups.

During the period of insurgency (2001–2021), Akhund was intermittently a member of the Quetta Shura. In 2013, he was the chief of the Taliban's commissions and the head of the recruitment commission.

Following the Taliban's return to power in 2021, Akhund was appointed interim Prime Minister. His appointment was seen as a compromise between the Taliban's moderate and hardline figures. He took office on 7 September 2021.

Additional information

Akhund is the author of several works on Islam. According to BBC News, he is more influential on the religious side of the Taliban, as opposed to the military side. A United States Institute of Peace analyst argued that he was more of a political person.

See also

• Mohammad Hasan Rahmani

Notes

1. Deputy Abdul Kabir served as acting prime minister pro tempore from 17 May 2023 to 17 July 2023 while Hasan Akhund was recovering from an illness.
2. Pashto: محمد حسن اخوند [mʊˈhamad haˈsan ɑˈxund]

References

1. Mohammad Farshad Daryosh (17 May 2023). "Mawlawi Kabir Appointed Acting PM As Mullah Hassan Akhund is Ill: Mujahid". TOLOnews. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
2. Adeeb, Fatema (9 September 2023). "Prime Minister's Absence From Meetings Raises Questions". TOLOnews. Archived from the original on 10 September 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
3. Sayed, Abdul (8 September 2021). "Analysis: How Are the Taliban Organized?". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
4. "Who is Mohammad Hasan Akhund, the head of new Taliban gov't?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
5. "Hibatullah Akhundzada to Lead Taliban Govt". TOLOnews. 9 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021. Mullah Hassan Akhundzada, 65, who is the Prime Minister (head of state) is originally from Shah Walikot district of Kandahar province.
6. "Security Council 1988 Committee Amends 105 Entries on Its Sanctions List | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
7. ^ "Profile: Mohammad Hasan Akhund, the head of Taliban government". Al-Jazeera. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
8. ^ "Profile: Who is Afghanistan's new caretaker prime minister?". The Express Tribune. 8 September 2021. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
9. "Explained: Who is Mullah Hasan Akhund? What does the Taliban's choice of interim prime minister mean for Afghanistan?". The Hindu. 8 September 2021. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
10. Adamec, Ludwig W. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan (4th ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780810879577. 27 October: Mulla Mutawakil is named minister of foreign affairs, replacing Mulla Hasan Akhund.
11. Peter Bergen (2013). Talibanistan. Oxford University Press. p. 9.
12. Seth G. Jones (2017). Waging Insurgent Warfare: Lessons from the Vietcong to the Islamic State. Oxford University Press. p. 99.
13. "Afghanistan: Who's who in the Taliban leadership". BBC News. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
14. Whiteside, Philip (7 September 2021). "Afghanistan: Who's who in the new Taliban government". Sky News. Sky UK. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
15. ^ "Hardliners get key posts in new Taliban government". BBC News. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
16. "گروه طالبان حکومت جدید خود را با رهبری ملا حسن اخوند اعلام کرد". BBC News فارسی. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
17. "Taliban announce new government for Afghanistan". BBC News. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
18. Alasdair Pal. "Factbox: Mohammad Hasan Akhund: Veteran Taliban leader becomes acting Afghan PM". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

v t e Prime ministers of Afghanistan
Emirate	Abdul Quddus Khan
Kingdom	Shir Ahmad Shir Giyan Mohammad Hashim Khan Amanat Lewana Shah Mahmud Khan Mohammad Daoud Khan Mohammad Yusuf Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal Abdullah Yaqta Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi Abdul Zahir Mohammad Musa Shafiq
Democratic Republic (Chairman)	Nur Muhammad Taraki Hafizullah Amin Babrak Karmal Sultan Ali Keshtmand Mohammad Hasan Sharq Sultan Ali Keshtmand Fazal Haq Khaliqyar
Islamic State	Abdul Sabur Farid Kohistani Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Arsala Rahmani Daulat Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai
Islamic Emirate (1996–2001)	Mohammad Rabbani Abdul Kabir
Islamic Emirate (since 2021)	Hasan Akhund Abdul Kabir
* Acting § Saqqawist prime minister ‡ Localized rebel prime minister

• Afghan Sunni Muslims
• Prime ministers of Afghanistan
• Deputy prime ministers of Afghanistan
• Afghan Islamists
• Taliban government ministers of Afghanistan
• Pashtun people
• People from Kandahar Province
• Living people
• 20th-century births
• Afghan writers
• Muslim writers