Commander Makhdoom Mohammad Alam, a prominent ethnic Uzbek figure within the Taliban's government, was appointed as Chief of Police in Ghazni province in September 2022. In January 2022, the Taliban's defense ministry briefly arrested him on charges of collaborating with ISIS-Khorasan, the terror group's chapter in Afghanistan. The arrest occurred amid the intricate web of internal factional and ethnic rivalries plaguing the middle echelons of the Taliban's leadership ranks. Prior to his arrest, Commander Alam wielded significant influence, overseeing the Taliban's military operations in Faryab, Jawzjan, and Saripul provinces.
