Fasihuddin Fitrat
Muhammad Fasihuddin Fitrat is an Afghan politician and military leader who is serving as the chief of general staff of the Afghan Armed Forces since 2021. An ethnic Tajik, he is one of the seniormost members of the Taliban.
Born in Istirab, Warduj District, Fitrat completed his education at a madrasa in Yamgan District. He joined the Taliban in the late 1990s and played a prominent role in toppling Northern Alliance strongholds. After the United States invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban's Islamic Emirate, Fitrat moved to Karachi for some while before returning to northern Afghanistan. In 2013, during the Taliban insurgency, he was appointed the shadow governor of Badakhshan Province and rose to ranks within the Taliban.
During the 2021 Taliban insurgency, Fitrat led Taliban forces from the northern Tajik-dominated regions of Afghanistan. He seized the Panjshir Province from the National Resistance Front in September 2021, after which the Taliban gained control over whole of Afghanistan. As such, he became known as among the Taiban. In 2022, Fitrat suppressed the Balkhab revolt led by Afghan Hazara rebel leader Mahdi Mujahid. Fitrat has also led Taliban's operations against ISIS Khorasan.
Early life and education
Fasihuddin Fitrat was born in the town of Istirab, Warduj District, Badakhshan Province. He belongs to the Dari-speaking Tajik ethnic group and raised by Sunni Muslim family. His father Mawlawi Saifuddin was an Islamic scholar and served as an imam in Warduj.Fitrat completed his education at a madrasa in Yamgan District in the 1990s and subsequently worked as a primary school teacher there.
Military career
Fasihuddin joined the Taliban in the late 1990s after moving to Karachi to study the Islamic sciences.Following the Taliban’s fall from power in Afghanistan in 2001 after seizing control of Kabul in 1996, the movement created a de-facto governmental order that placed Taliban members—shadow officials—in control of specific areas within Afghanistan. At one point, Fasihuddin was the shadow governor of Badakhshan. It was because of Fitrat that the entire Northern Alliance was toppled despite the fact that the Haqqani network, Abdul Ghani Baradar and Hibatullah Akhundzada were from Pashtun-dominated areas, where they faced a lot of resistance. He is known as the "Conqueror of the North" among the Taliban.
In 2013, Fitrat was appointed as the Taliban's shadow governor and head of the military commission in Badakhshan. In the same year, he first appeared in a Taliban propaganda video about the security situation in Badakhshan. In 2015, the Afghan Ministry of Interior falsely claimed that Fitrat had been killed with 40 of his men, but the claim turned out to be inaccurate.
Fitrat was the first Taliban leader to enter Panjshir Province. He alongside his Taliban soldiers took control of Bazarak and thus took control of Panjshir.
Fitrat was also involved in suppressing the Balkhab uprising led by the Shia Hazara militant Mahdi Mujahid. Fitrat has also led Taliban operations against ISIS Khorasan.