Mohammad Rabbani

Mullah
Mohammad Rabbani
محمد ربانی
Prime Minister of Afghanistan
In office
27 September 1996 – 16 April 2001
Disputed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and
Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai
until 21 August 1997
DeputyHasan Akhund
LeaderMullah Omar
Preceded byGulbuddin Hekmatyar
Succeeded byAbdul Kabir (acting)
Deputy Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan[1]
In office
4 April 1996 – 16 April 2001
LeaderMullah Omar
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAbdul Ghani Baradar
Personal details
Born1955
Pashmol, Afghanistan
Died16 April 2001(2001-04-16) (aged 45–46)
Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
OccupationPolitician, Taliban member
Political affiliationTaliban

Mullah Mohammad Rabbani Akhund (1955 – 16 April 2001) was one of the main leaders of the Taliban movement who served as Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. He was second in power only to the supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, in the Taliban hierarchy.

Rabbani fought the Soviet Union after it invaded Afghanistan in 1979. When the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, he initially stopped fighting. He joined the Taliban in 1994.[2] After years of civil war, he led the Taliban guerrillas in the final assault against the capital, Kabul.

He served as Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. There were also rumors that Mullah Rabbani and the head of the Taliban movement had serious political differences.[2] While Rabbani and the ruling Leadership Council of Afghanistan constituted the public face of the country, the important decisions were made by Mullah Omar, who resided in the southern city of Kandahar.

  1. ^ Elias, Barbara. "The Taliban Biography – Documents on the Structure and Leadership of the Taliban 1996-2002" (PDF). National Security Archive. George Washington University. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan. Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn. Page 479-80.