Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi is the most ethnic Uzbek figure within the Taliban's leadership hierarchy and has served as Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs since early September 2021.
During the 1990s, he served as Deputy Minister of Education under the Taliban regime. He later oversaw Taliban activities in northern Jawzjan province until 2008, where he was also reportedly involved in narcotics trafficking. From 2019 to 2021, Hanafi was a key member of the Taliban’s negotiating team in Doha, Qatar, and served as deputy head of the group’s political office there.
He holds two Afghanistan diplomatic passports — D00009723 and another D0010098, issued on April 4, 2023 in Kabul (expires April 2028) with a listed date of birth of January 1, 1969. He is sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as the United Nations under the designation TAi.027.
