MEI - Taliban

Mawlawi Ahmad Zmarak Yasir assumed his position as the Defense Attaché at the Taliban Embassy in Moscow, Russia, in March 2024. Before taking on this role, he served as the Deputy Head of Office for Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the First Deputy Prime Minister. Before the Taliban's takeover, he reportedly served as a staff member of the Taliban’s Political Office in Doha, Qatar.

Ahmad Zmarak Yasir boasts a lineage deeply entrenched in Taliban history; he is the son of Ustad Mohammad Yasir, a prominent Taliban figure who served the group's cultural commission. Ustad Yasir's own journey reflects a legacy of dedication to ideological causes. Initially aligned with the Ittehad-e Islami Islamist party during the Afghan resistance against the Soviets in the 1980s under the leadership of jihadi figure Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Ustad Yasir later transitioned to the Taliban in the 1990s, swiftly rising to the ranks of senior commanders within the Taliban movement. After the U.S. engagement in Afghanistan in 2001, he openly voiced his support for al-Qaeda. According to public reports, as of 2009, Ustad Yasir was reportedly captured and imprisoned by Pakistani authorities and subsequently disappeared. Despite public reports indicating his demise in prison around 2012, the exact circumstances surrounding his status remain unknown.