Sheikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani, a religious hardliner, currently holds the position of Director General of the Higher Education Examination Board since October 2022. Prior to this role, he served as the 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 and holding the position of deputy minister of information and culture from 1996 to 2001. Additionally, he worked in the consular section of the Taliban's foreign ministry. Reports indicate that Sheikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani briefly served as the Taliban's minister for martyrs and disabled affairs in the 1990s. He received his education at Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa in Pakistan and has long been a senior financial advisor to the Haqqani Network. Born in 1960, he is listed on the UN's sanctions list under the designation TAi.038.
