
Mohammad Hassan Akhund was Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 27 September 1996 to 13 November 2001 (preceding Abdul Ghani Baradar) and Prime Minister from 7 September 2021 (succeeding Abdul Kabir).
Biography[]
Mohammad Hassan Akhund was born in Pashmul, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, a member of the Kakar Pashtun tribe. Educated at seminaries in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he became the leader of the Taliban's Rehbari Shura decision-making body, rose to be a close associate of Mullah Mohammed Omar, served as Deputy Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 2001, was intermittently a member of the Quetta Shura, became the head of the Taliban's recruitment commission in 2013, and became the interim prime minister of Afghanistan on 7 September 2021 in a move meant to serve as a compromise between moderates and hardliners.