Sheikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani, a religious hardliner, has served as Director General of the Higher Education Examination Board since October 2022. Prior to this role, he was acting Minister for Higher Education from September 2021 to October 2022.
His earlier positions include serving as the Taliban's provincial governor of Khost and Paktika provinces, as well as Deputy Minister of Information and Culture from 1996 to 2001. He also worked in the consular section of the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reportedly briefly served as Minister for Martyrs and Disabled Affairs during the 1990s.
He was educated at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan and has long been a senior financial advisor to the Haqqani Network. He is reported to hold an Afghanistan diplomatic passport D0009724 (issued October 13, 2021 in Kabul; expires October 13, 2026), listing a birth date of January 1, 1967. He is listed under the United Nations sanctions regime under designation TAi.038.
