Mohammad Fazl

For other uses, see Mohammad Fazel.
Mullah
Mohammad Fazl
محمد فضل
First Deputy Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 September 2021
Prime MinisterMohammad Hassan Akhund (acting)
Supreme LeaderHibatullah Akhundzada
Preceded byShah Mahmood Miakhel
Succeeded byAbdul Qayyum Zakir (acting)
Deputy Minister of Defense
In office
unknown – November 2001
Prime MinisterMohammed Rabbani
Abdul Kabir
LeaderMohammed Omar
Personal details
Born1967 (age 56–57)[1]
Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan
Political party Taliban
Military service
AllegianceIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Branch/serviceIslamic Army of Afghanistan
Years of service1995–2001
RankCommander
Commands10th Division, Takhar Province
Battles/warsAfghan civil war
War in Afghanistan

Mullah Mohammad Fazl (Pashto: محمد فضل [mʊˈhamad fɑˈzɪl]; born 1967) is a member of the Taliban militant group and the First Deputy Defense Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, having assumed the role on 7 September 2021.[2] He also served in the position during the previous Taliban government (1996–2001).[3]

He was held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba for 12 years after being classified as an enemy combatant by the United States.[4] His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 7. He arrived at the Guantanamo detention camps on 11 January 2002 and was held there until 31 May 2014.[5] He was released, along with the other four members of the so-called Taliban Five—Khairullah Khairkhwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Norullah Noori, and Mohammad Nabi Omari—in exchange for the release of United States Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl, a convicted deserter who had been held captive by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network.[6][7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ "JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Taliban Are Telling Us They Haven't Changed at All". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  3. ^ "Taliban's Mullah Omar celebrates prisoner-swap 'victory'". BBC News. 2014-06-01. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  4. ^ "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. 2006-05-15. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  5. ^ "Terror suspects freed by Obama admin. For soldier were labeled 'high risk' in 2008: Report". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  6. ^ "Taliban's Mullah Omar celebrates prisoner-swap 'victory'". BBC News. June 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  7. ^ JTF-GTMO (2007-03-16). "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
  8. ^ "Measurements of Heights and Weights of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (ordered and consolidated version)" (PDF). Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, from DoD data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-13.
  9. ^ Margot Williams (2008-11-03). "Guantanamo Docket: Mullah Mohammad Fazl". New York Times.
  10. ^ Devon M. Sayers; Holly Yan. "Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion, faces up to life in prison". CNN. Retrieved 2017-10-18.