Atta Muhammad Nur
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Atta Muhammad Nur
Not to be confused with Mohamed Atta.
| Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor استاد عطا محمد نور |
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| Atta Mommad Noor (right) greeting international officials in Mazar-i-Sharif in May 2011 | |
| Governor of Balkh, Afghanistan | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Mohammad Eshaq Rahgozar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1965 Balkh Province, Afghanistan |
| Political party | Jamiat-e Islami |
| Religion | Islam |
Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Atta Mohammed Noor) (Persian: استاد عطا محمد نور) is a politician in Afghanistan, serving as the Governor of Balkh Province in the north of the country. He was appointed in 2004 by President Hamid Karzai. An ethnic Tajik,[1] he was a high school teacher before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He then became an anti-Soviet mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami. When the Taliban took power in late 1996, Atta Noor served as a commander in the anti-Taliban United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud. He led operations in the Balkh area.[2]
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Contents
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Biography
Born in Balkh province, Atta Mohammed joined the mujahideen fighting the Soviet presence in Afghanistan in the 1980s[3] and became affiliated with the Jamiat-e Islami party. By 1992, he had become one the most powerful mujahideen commanders in Northern Afghanistan.[4]
Following the fall of Mohammed Najibullah's Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, while remaining a Jamiat commander, he also joined Abdul Rashid Dostum's National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, becoming a deputy leader of that movement during its first congress on June 1, 1992.[5] However, ideological differences with Dostum soon emerged, and in 1993, he split from Dostum.[6] In January 1994, Atta Noor fought to consolidate the Islamic State of Afghanistan's control over the capital of Balkh, Mazar-i-Sharif, against Dostum's Junbish milita. But Dostum struck first, mobilizing 10,000 men and defeating Atta's forces.[7]
When the Taliban took power in late 1996, Atta Noor served as a commander in the anti-Taliban United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud. Atta Noor led operations in the Balkh area.[2] Dostum had turned into an ally against the Taliban. On November 9, 2001 Atta Noor's forces and those of Dostum drove the Taliban from Mazar-i-Sharif.[8]
After the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under the Hamid Karzai administration, Ustad Atta's forces clashed with those of Dostum several times. From 2002 onwards, with the support of Jamiat-e Islami allies occupying key positions in the Afghan Transitional Administration and the support of the international community which tried to marginalize Dostum for his dubious record, Atta Noor expanded his influence in Northern Afghanistan. He managed to seize Mazar-i-Sharif using little force, only the Khulmi District was taken by force. Atta subsequently attempted to buy the loyalty of local leaders in Faryab, Jowzjan and Balkh provinces.[9] In October 2003, Dostum launched an offensive, and managed to retake many of the positions he had lost since 2002. Near Mazar, Dostum outmaneuvred Atta's armoured forces, and captured all the key positions around the city.[10] The fighting initiated by Dostum around Mazar involved tanks and artillery, and resulted in the death of approximately 60 people.[11] Both Dostum and Atta were, however, coming under increasing pressure from the international community and the central government in Kabul to stop the fighting. Atta and Dostum worked out a power-sharing agreement in which Dostum conceded Mazar and most of Balkh province to Atta, who in turn renounced his intention of contesting Dostum's influence elsewhere in Northern Afghanistan.[12]
Governor of Balkh
In late 2004, Atta was appointed governor of Balkh Province by Hamid Karzai. By installing commanders with whom he had fought in the 1980s and 1990s in local government positions, thus turning them away from destabilizing activities, he created a loyal and disciplined local administration. As a result, he acquired a monopoly on violence, and achieved relative security and stability even in the most remote districts, at the cost of authoritarian methods. The security in Balkh Province permitted significant reconstruction and the development of considerable economic activity.[3] Atta Noor is credited for maintaining political control and economic development and security for Balkh province including its largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif. Governor Atta's opium poppy eradication program between 2005 and 2007, advised by consultants from Adam Smith International, successfully reduced poppy cultivation in Balkh Province from 7,200 hectares in 2005 to zero by 2007.[3]
Governor Atta Mohammad Noor supported Karzai’s main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, in the August 2009 presidential election.[13]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/afghanistan/politics.htm
- ^ a b Constable, Pamela (2006) "Top Prosecutor Targets Afghanistan's Once-Untouchable Bosses" Washington Post 23 November 2006, p. A-22
- ^ a b c Mukhopadhyay, Dipali (August 2009). "Warlords As Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/files/warlords_as_bureaucrats.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ Giustozzi, Antonio (2009). Empires of Mud: Wars and Warlords in Afghanistan. London: Hurst. pp. 105. ISBN 978-1-85065-932-7.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.107
- ^ Giustozzi, p.149
- ^ Giustozzi, p.168
- ^ Karon, Tony (Nov. 09, 2001). "Rebels: Mazar-i-Sharif is Ours". Time. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,183885,00.html. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.150
- ^ Giustozzi, p.151
- ^ Williams, Brian Glyn (May 5, 2005). "Rashid Dostum: America's Secular Ally In The War On Terror". The Jamestown Foundation.
- ^ Giustozzi, p.156
- ^ Cross, Tony (16 Nov 2009). "Northern powerbroker calls for Abdullah supporters in government". Radio France Internationale. http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/119/article_5865.asp. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Atta Mohammad Nur |
- King, Laura (January 9, 2010). "In Afghanistan, a governor who answers to no one". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/09/world/la-fg-afghan-warlord9-2010jan09. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
- Clark, Kate (30 June 2005). "In the shadow of the gun". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4118820.stm. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
- Gall, Carlotta (November 13, 2003). "For an Ancient Afghan Town, No End to War, With Rival Generals Now Clashing". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/15/world/for-an-ancient-afghan-town-no-end-to-war-with-rival-generals-now-clashing.html?ref=atta_muhammad. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
- Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor visits elementary school in Seattle
| Preceded by Mohammad Eshaq Rahgozar |
Governor of Balkh 2004–Present |
Succeeded by |
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