Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan)

Afghanistan

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Afghanistan

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The Afghan Ministry of Defense is an organ of the Central Government of Afghanistan, overseeing the entire military of Afghanistan. As of 2004^[update], it is headed by Abdul Rahim Wardak, a former mujahid who also received some military training in the United States. Zahir Azimi is currenctly the Major General and spokesman of the Ministry of Defense.^[1]

From late 2001 to 2004, Mohammed Fahim served as the Defense Minister but was sacked after being accused of illegally occupying land in Kabul. During the same period, Abdul Rahim Wardak was the Deputy Minister. On December 23, 2004, President Hamid Karzai appointed Wardak as the new Defense Minister.

One of the primary functions of the Defense Ministry today is disarming the militias and warlords not answering to the authority of the central government through programmes such as the Afghan New Beginnings Programme. These militias coalesced from warlords and former army personnel after the collapse of the Najibullah government in 1992. Taliban insurgents have repeatedly attacked ministry officials.

On June 9, 2003, the United Nations urged the Afghan government to take drastic steps to make both the Afghan National Army and Defense Ministry better reflect the nation's ethnic make-up. This came after an earlier announcement on February 20, 2003 by former Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim that steps were being taken to this effect.^[2]

List of Defense Ministers

No.	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Political Party
*	Ghulam Haidar Rasuli	1977	April 1978	Republican
*	Abdul Qadir Dagarwal	May 1978	August 1978	PDPA-Parcham
*	Mohammad Aslam Watanjar	March 1979	July 1979	PDPA-Khalq
*	Hafizullah Amin	July 1979	December 1979	PDPA-Khalq
*	Mohammed Rafie	January 1980	1982	PDPA-Parcham
*	Abdul Qadir Dagarwal	1982	December 1986	PDPA-Parcham
*	Mohammed Rafie	December 1986	May 1988	PDPA-Parcham
*	Shahnawaz Tanai	May 1988	March 1990	PDPA-Khalq
*	Mohammad Aslam Watanjar	March 1990	April 1992	PDPA-Khalq
*	Ahmad Shah Massoud (for internationally recognized Islamic State of Afghanistan)	April 1992	September 2001	Jamiat-i Islami
*	Obaidullah Akhund (for not internationally recognized Emirate of Afghanistan)	September 1996	December 2001	Taliban
*	Mohammed Fahim	September 2001	December 23, 2004	Jamiat-i Islami
*	Abdul Rahim Wardak	December 23, 2004	Incumbent	None

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Eurasianet.org, [2], 2003

External links

• Official site