MEI - Taliban

Mawlawi Mohammad Daud Muzzamil served as the Governor of Balkh province from October 2022 until March 9, 2023, when he was assassinated in his office by a suicide attack claimed by ISIS-Khorasan, the Afghanistan branch of the terror group. Prior to his role as the Governor of Balkh, he held the position of First Deputy Minister of Interior from February to October 2022 and was formally introduced by Interior Minister Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani. Before that, from November 2021 to February 2022, he served as the Governor of Nangarhar province. In the past, Muzzamil served in various capacities in Helmand, Farah, Kandahar, and Nangarhar provinces, including holding roles as district governor, military commander, head of the military commission, deputy governor, and governor (Helmand and Farah provinces). Additionally, in early 2017, he reportedly led "the Taliban’s Quetta Military Commission," according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Daud Muzzamil was affiliated with the Helmand faction of the Taliban and had close ties with the late Taliban emir, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. Muzzamil was reportedly linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Forces (IRGC-QF), as well as drug traffickers. Additionally, through his connection with Sirajuddin Haqqani, Muzzamil was reported to have ties with al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He enjoyed widespread support in southern Helmand, Kandahar, and Farah provinces, particularly among the Taliban's special forces, known as the Red Unit. In October 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Daud Muzzamil for his ties to IRGC-QF and for facilitating Iranian support for terrorist activities.