Afghan Biographies

Noori, Noorullah Nuri


Name Noori, Noorullah Nuri
Ethnic backgr. Tajik
Date of birth 1958
Function/Grade Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs
History and Biodata

1. Former Ministers of Border and Tribal Affairs
Amanullah Zadran (2001),
Arif Noorzai (Nurzai) (2004),
Abdul Karim Brahui (Nimruz) (2008),
Asadullah Khalid (2008 - 2009) and (20100628 - 20120914)
Haji Din Mohammad nominated, not approved by Wolesi Jirga (20120915)
Mohammad Akram Khpalwak (20130710-20140930)
Mohammad Akram Khpalwak Acting Minister of Border Affairs (20141001-20141208)
acting Minister of Borders and Tribes Dr Seyyed Ahmad Haqbin (20141209)
Gulab Mangal (20150418, 20161018)
Abdul Ghafour Lewal  acting Minister (20170526)
Mohammad Shafiq Gul Agha Sherzai (20170725, 20171204 confirmed, 20180621, 20190813, 20200831)
Mohibullah Samim nominated and acting (20200831) confirmed (20201201)

Mawlawi Noorullah Noori Nurullah Nuri (20210907)

Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Border and Tribal Affairs:
Mullah Abdul Khaleq Akhund (20220224)

Deputy Minister of Borders:

Muhammad Yaqub Ahmadzai Mohammad Yaqoub Ahmadzai (20091024, 20131105, 20170831)

Haji Gul Mohammad (20210921)
Maulvi Ahmad Taha (20211122)
Maulvi Gul Zarin Kochi (20210921) Head of Kochi Affairs at the Ministry of Border and Tribal Affairs (20211122)
Mohammad Qasim Khalid, the former deputy head of the Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs, has been appointed as the governor of (20221200)
Ahmad Taha deputy minister of the Borders and Tribal Affairs (20230504)
Abdul Rahman Haqqani deputy minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs (20230504)
 

2. Previous Functions:
Former Taliban Governor Laghman, Baghlan and Wardak Provinces
Former Taliban Governor Balkh Province and Chief of the Northern Zone
Military Commander
Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs (20210907) acting

 

3. Biodata:
noori_noroullahMawlawi Nurullah Nuri was born 1958 or 1967 in Shahjoy District, Uruzgan Province. A Tokhi from Zabul, he was too young to fight in the 1980s jihad and joined the Taleban as they were expanding northwards. Along with Fazl and the late Mullah Dadullah, Nuri negotiated the surrender of Taleban fighters in Kunduz (concluded on 26 November 2001) with General Dostum and the late General Daud. The Taleban believed the peaceful surrender of men and weapons was to be in exchange for safe passage home and indeed, a meeting with Dostum, Muhaqqiq and Atta was filmed. Norullah Noori was arrested 20011224 in Afghanistan and questioned aboard the U.S. warship Peleliu in the Arabian Sea. Nuri was handed over to US forces and imprisoned in Guantanamo.

Summary of evidence Memo from Guantanamo:

a. The detainee is a member of the Taliban.
1. The detainee traveled to Kabul to serve as a security guard for a Taliban official.
2. He later worked as a security guard for the Governor of Jalalabad carrying a Kalashnikov rifle.
3. In 2000 the detainee moved to Mazar-E Sharif where he was a member of a 10-12 man team who provided security to the Governor.
4. He was armed with a Kalashnikov while on guard duty.
5. The detainee served as the acting governor in Mazar-E Sharif for 8 to 9 months prior to his capture.

b. The detainee participated in military operations against the coalition.
1. He was fighting on the front lines at Masar-E-Sharif as a Taliban fighter. As the front lines in Masar-E-Sharif fell, he moved with a majority of the remaining fighters to Kunduz to reestablish the front lines.
2. He participated in a meeting where Taliban leaders decided to surrender to the Northern Alliance.
3. He was captured by Northern Alliance forces along with a Taliban leader and five Taliban soldiers.

Along with Fazl Mazlum and the late Mullah Dadullah, Nuri negotiated the surrender of Taleban fighters in Kunduz (concluded on 26 November 2001) with General Dostum and late General Daud. As for the three Taleban leaders who surrendered, Dadullah managed to flee; the other two, Fazl and Nuri, were handed over to US forces and have been in Guantanamo since.

In February 2011, the Afghan High Peace Council named a half-dozen it wanted released as a goodwill gesture. The list included Fazl; senior Taliban military commander Noorullah Noori; former deputy intelligence minister Abdul Haq Wasiq; and Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former interior minister.
Mulla Muhammad Fazal Akhond, Mulla Norulla Noori, Mulla Khairulla Khairkhwa, Mulla Abdul Haq Waseeq, Mawlavi Mohammad Nabi, were released from Guantanamo detention facility.(20140601)

More Background:

Nurullah Nuri was head of the northern zone (rais-e tanzima-ye shomal) and governor of Balkh – both administrative, not military positions – when he was captured in November 2001. A Tokhi from Zabul, he was too young to fight in the 1980s jihad and joined the Taleban as they were expanding northwards. Not a member of the original Taleban ‘band of brothers’, he nonetheless rose through the ranks, holding a number of provincial governor positions – in Wardak, Laghman and Baghlan – before ending up in charge of the north. As said earlier, there is nothing in the war crimes reporting linking him to any charges.

Along with Fazl and the late Mullah Dadullah, Nuri negotiated the surrender of Taleban fighters in Kunduz (concluded on 26 November 2001) with General Dostum and the late General Daud. The Taleban believed the peaceful surrender of men and weapons was to be in exchange for safe passage home and indeed, a meeting with Dostum, Muhaqqiq and Atta was filmed. The deal actually ended in chaos and bloodshed – the prisoner uprising and its violent quashing in Qala-ye Jangi and the suffocating to death of thousands of Taleban prisoners and their burial in Dasht-e Laili. This final massacre of the 1978-2001 conflict is something which Dostum and his US Special Forces allies have yet to address. As for the three Taleban leaders who surrendered, Dadullah managed to flee; the other two, Fazl and Nuri, were handed over to US forces and have been in Guantanamo since.

 

Last Modified 2023-07-21
Established 2011-12-31