Mullah Mohammad Fazal Akhund, also known as Fazl Mazloom, is a seasoned Taliban commander who was appointed Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in mid-February 2026. Before this role, he served as First Deputy Minister of National Defense in the Taliban government.
A close associate of the Taliban’s founding leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, he served as Deputy Chief of Army Staff during the first Taliban regime in the 1990s, where he reportedly maintained close operational ties with senior al-Qaeda figures and the al-Qaeda-aligned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Mullah Fazal was captured by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, losing a leg in the battle. He was subsequently transferred to U.S. custody and detained at Guantanamo Bay for 13 years.
In 2014, he was released as part of a high-profile prisoner exchange known as the “Taliban Five,” in which the Taliban released U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in return for Fazal and four other senior Taliban members. Following his release, he was transferred to Doha, Qatar, where he joined the Taliban’s Political Office and negotiating team. As a senior figure within the Southern Taliban, he has a tense relationship with leaders of the Haqqani Network.
Born reportedly in October 1971, he holds Afghanistan diplomatic passport D0009726 (issued October 13, 2021, in Kabul), listing a birth date of October 24, 1971. He reportedly resides in the Pule Mahmood Khan neighborhood of Kabul and is listed under the United Nations sanctions regime under designation TAi.023.
