Abdul Kabir عبدالکبیر | |
|---|---|
 Kabir in 2021 | |
| Minister of Refugee and Repatriation | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2025 | |
| Supreme Leader | Hibatullah Akhundzada |
| Prime Minister | Hasan Akhund |
| Preceded by | Khalil Haqqani |
| Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan | |
| 3rd Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs 4 October 2021 – 9 January 2025 | |
| Supreme Leader | Hibatullah Akhundzada |
| Prime Minister | Hasan Akhund |
| 2nd Deputy Prime Minister before 25 January – 13 November 2001 | |
| Supreme Leader | Mullah Omar |
| Prime Minister | Mohammad Rabbani |
| Acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan | |
| Pro tempore[a] 17 May 2023 – 17 July 2023 | |
| Supreme Leader | Hibatullah Akhundzada |
| Prime Minister | Hasan Akhund |
| caretaker 16 April – 13 November 2001 | |
| Supreme Leader | Mullah Omar |
| Member of theLeadership Council | |
| Assumed office 15 August 2021 | |
| In exile May 2002[3] – 15 August 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1958/1963 (age 59–65) |
| Occupation | Politician,Taliban member |
| Political affiliation | Taliban |
MawlawiAbdul Kabir (Pashto:عبدالکبير) is anAfghan politician and a senior member of theTaliban leadership.[4] Since 18 January 2025, he is the actingMinister of Refugee and Repatriation. From 4 October 2021 to 9 January 2025, he was also the actingthird Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban government.[5] In theprevious Taliban regime, he was the acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 16 April to 13 November 2001.[6][7][8]
TheUnited Nations reports that during the first Taliban regime, Kabir was Second Deputy of the Taliban's Council of Ministers; Governor ofNangarhar Province; and Head of the Eastern Zone.The U.N. reports that Kabir was born between 1958 and 1963, inPaktia,Afghanistan, and is from theZadran tribe.The U.N. reports that Kabir is active in terrorist operations in Eastern Afghanistan.
In April 2002, Abdul Razzaktold theAssociated Press that Kabir was believed to have fled Nangarhar toPaktia, along withAhmed Khadr.[9]
The Chinese News AgencyXinhua reported that Abdul Kabir was captured inNowshera,Pakistan, on 16 July 2005.[10][11]Captured with Abdul Kabir were his brother Abdul Aziz,Mullah Abdul Qadeer, Mullah Abdul Haq, and a fifth unnamed member of the Taliban leadership.[12]
On 19 July 2006, United States CongressmanRoscoe G. Bartlett listed Abdul Kabir as a former suspected terrorist who the US government no longer considers a threat.[13]
In spite of these reports, intelligence officials quoted inAsia Times indicated Kabir and other senior Taliban leaders may have been in North Waziristan, Pakistan, during Ramadan 2007, planning an offensive in southeastern Afghanistan.[14]
Xinhua reported on 21 October 2007, quoting from an account fromDaily Afghanistan, that Abdul Kabir had been appointed commander in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nooristan provinces.[15]
A report on 21 February 2010, stated that Kabir was captured in Pakistan as a result of intelligence gleaned fromMullah Baradar,[16] himself taken into custody earlier in the month. Kabir was later released.[17][18][19]
On January 9, 2025, Kabir was appointed Acting Minister for Refugees and Repatriation by Supreme LeaderHibatullah Akhundzada, following the assassination ofKhalil Haqqani. He was also dismissed from his post as Acting Deputy Prime Minister. He was sworn in on 18 January.[20][21][22][23]
In addition to these, we had a detailed meeting with Mulla Abdul Kabir, the acting Prime Minister.
Baradar's arrest was followed by the capture of the Taliban's shadow governors for Afghanistan's Kunduz and Baghlan provinces—Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Muhammad—in addition to former Taliban acting Prime Minister Maulawi Kabir and former Zabul Province shadow governor and head of "the commission" Maulawi Muhammad Yunos.
Abdul Razzak, a former loyalist of dissident Afghan leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, told The Associated Press he met Abdul Kabir, the former governor of Nangarhar province and the No. 3 man in the Taliban, just two weeks ago in Paktia province. Razzak also said Saeed Al Khadr, an Egyptian Canadian and one of the 20 most-wanted al-Qaida members, is in Paktia after fleeing Nangarhar with Kabir. Khadr was implicated in the suicide bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan in the 1990s that killed 17 people.
Mulvi Kabir, the former Taliban governor in Afghanistan's Nangahar Province, and a key figure in the Taliban regime was recently captured in Pakistan, two senior U.S. officials tell Fox News. Kabir, considered to be among the top ten most wanted Taliban leaders, was apprehended in the Naw Shera district of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province by Pakistani police forces in recent days.
According to well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the decision-makers in the powerful Pakistani establishment seem to have concluded in view of the ever-growing nexus between the Pakistani and the Afghan Taliban that they are now one and the same and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST) could no more be treated as two separate Jihadi entities.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | ActingPrime Minister of Afghanistan 2001 | Vacant Title next held by Hasan Akhund(acting, 2021) |
| New seat | ActingThird Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan for Political Affairs 2021–2025 Served under:Hasan Akhund(acting PM) | Vacant |
 Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 Democratic Republic(Chairman) | |
 Islamic State | |
 Islamic Emirate(1996–2001) | |
| Islamic Emirate(since 2021) | |