Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a seasoned Tajik commander within the Taliban, has been serving as Chief of the Army Staff in the Taliban's government since September 2021. A veteran of the Taliban’s Peshawar Shura and the Central Military Commission, Qari Fasihuddin previously served as one of three deputies to Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, then-Taliban's military chief and current defense minister. The other two deputies were Mawlawi Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Ibrahim Sadr, who presently serve as deputy defense minister and deputy interior minister in the Taliban government, respectively. At the time, Yaqoob oversaw military operations in 21 provinces across Afghanistan, where Qari Fasihuddin was responsible for the Taliban’s military activities across nine provinces in the northern region. In the past, he served as district governor of Warduj, his home district in northern Badakhshan province, and later as the Taliban’s shadow governor for Badakhshan. He reportedly maintained close ties with foreign jihadist groups, including Jamaat Ansarullah in Tajikistan and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in China's Xinjiang region. After the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, he was lauded as the “Conqueror of Panjshir.” Despite his significant background, Fasihuddin Fitrat is not currently listed on the United Nations or other sanctions list.
