Atta Muhammad Nur | |
---|---|
![]() Nur in 2010 | |
Governor of Balkh | |
In office 2004 – January 25, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Habibullah Habib |
Succeeded by | Mohammad Ishaq Rahgozar[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | 1964 (age 59–60) Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan |
Political party | Jamiat-e Islami |
Relations | Islam[2] |
Children | 7 |
Profession | Politician, former Mujahideen leader |
Ethnicity | Tajik |
Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Ata Mohammed Noor; Persian: عطا محمد نور; born 1964) is an Afghan exiled politician and former Mujahid Leader who served as the Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to January 25, 2018.[1] An ethnic Tajik,[3] he worked to educate the Mujahideen after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, gaining the nickname "The Teacher".[4] He then became a mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami against the Soviets.
When the Taliban government took power in late 1996, Noor served as a commander in the United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban. He led operations in the Balkh area.[5] In 2004, President Hamid Karzai appointed him as the governor of Balkh province.[3] He has been described by The Economist as being "immensely wealthy."[6] He was removed from the position of Provincial Governor by President Ashraf Ghani in January 2018.[7]
During the 2021 Taliban offensive, Nur, along with Abdul Rashid Dostum, fled Mazar-e-Sharif to Uzbekistan in August 2021.[8]