Mullah Hedayatullah Badri, also known as Gul Agha Ishaqzai, was appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum in early July 2024. Prior to assuming this position, he served as the Governor of the Afghanistan Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) since March 25, 2023. Before his role at the central bank, he held the position of Minister of Finance from September 2021 to March 12, 2023, following the Taliban's takeover. Accounts of his departure from the finance ministry included speculations about perceived differences with the Taliban's emir, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, particularly related to the emir's decision to enforce a ban on opium cultivation that impacted Ishaqzai's hometown in southern Afghanistan.
A longtime member of the Taliban’s leadership council, Hedayatullah Badri was a trusted confidante of the Taliban's founding leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, including serving as his principal finance officer. In the past, he has headed the Taliban's Financial Commission, as of 2013, and was a member of the council that oversaw the collection of zakat (Islamic tax), primarily operating from the Quetta region in Pakistan. In July 2010, the U.S. Department of the Treasury named Hedayatullah Badri as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) for financially facilitating suicide operations in southern Afghanistan. Born in 1972 in Lashkargah, Helmand province, he received his early education in a local madrassa under the guidance of Mullah Omar. He reportedly has four brothers and 15 children. He is listed on the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions list under the designation TAi.147.
