Mohammad Shoaib Risalat
Mullah Mohammad Shoaib Risalat, alternatively Damullah Mohammad Shoai Risalat, is an Afghan Taliban leader who is currently serving as governor of Samangan Province, Afghanistan.
Career
Shortly after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada appointed Mohammad Shoaib Risalat to serve as the governor of the northern province of Jowzjan, ethnically comprising a mix of Uzbeks, Turkmen, and Pashtuns. Risalat served as provincial governor for nearly a year before his rotation to serve as provincial governor in Jowzjan's western neighbor, Faryab Province. After 19 months, a tweet from Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed on 28 May 2024 that Risalat had rotated to serve as governor of the central-northern province Samangan, swapping seats with Abdul Ahad Fazli.Governor of Faryab
In a September 2023 speech as provincial governor of Faryab, Risalat emphasized a need for further educational development stating "We want a standard educational system that fit to our beliefs and cultural values." At the event, the then Acting Higher Education Minister Sheikh Neda Mohammad Nadeem announced long-term plans for the construction of a "Medicine University" in Faryab.During Risalat's tenure, Faryab was identified as one of six provinces which appeared to continue providing education to girls despite the national blanket ban on women's education. The United States-based outlet Amu Television reports that Faryab hosts 599 schools with 423,000 students, 42% of them female. An interviewed grade 10 female student stated "The officials of the Department of Education asked students not to bring the issue of schools being open to the attention of the media so that the high-ranking officials do not order schools to close like in Paktika."