Atta Muhammad Nur

Atta Muhammad Nur
Nur in 2010
Governor of Balkh
In office
2004 – January 25, 2018
Preceded byMustafa Omari
Succeeded byMohammad Ishaq Rahgozar[1]
Personal details
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan
Political partyJamiat-e Islami
RelationsIslam[2]
Children7
ProfessionPolitician, former Mujahideen leader
EthnicityTajik

Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Ata Mohammed Noor; Persian: عطا محمد نور; born 1964) is an Afghan exiled politician and former Mujahid Leader who served as the Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to January 25, 2018.[1] An ethnic Tajik,[3] he worked to educate the Mujahideen after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, gaining the nickname "The Teacher".[4] He then became a mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami against the Soviets.

When the Taliban government took power in late 1996, Noor served as a commander in the United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban. He led operations in the Balkh area.[5] In 2004, President Hamid Karzai appointed him as the governor of Balkh province.[3] He has been described by The Economist as being "immensely wealthy."[6] He was removed from the position of Provincial Governor by President Ashraf Ghani in January 2018.[7]

During the 2021 Taliban offensive, Nur, along with Abdul Rashid Dostum, fled Mazar-e-Sharif to Uzbekistan in August 2021.[8]

  1. ^ a b Alim, Mohammad Haroon (6 October 2020). "Government Appoints New Governor For Balkh Province".
  2. ^ "Afghan Governor Himself Defends Indian Consulate And Wins Our Collective Respect". Archived from the original on January 6, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Kramer, Andrew E. (February 18, 2018). "Second Afghan Governor Defies Kabul Order to Resign, Adding to U.S. Headache". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  4. ^ Nelson, Soraya. "Ex-Warlord Helps Afghan Province Make Progress". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  5. ^ Constable, Pamela (2006) "Top Prosecutor Targets Afghanistan's Once-Untouchable Bosses" The Washington Post 23 November 2006, p. A-22
  6. ^ Afghanistan’s presidential election: Stuffed, economist.com.
  7. ^ Ihsas, ‌Zabihullah (25 January 2018). "New Governor of Balkh".
  8. ^ "Afghan militia leaders Atta Noor, Dostum escape 'conspiracy'". Reuters. 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-15.