Shahmahmood Miakhel
شاه محمود میاخېل
First Deputy/Acting Defense Minister
Acting
In office
July 2020  March 2021
PresidentAshraf Ghani
Succeeded byMohammad Fazl
Nangarhar
Gouverneur
In office
February 2019  July 2020
PresidentAshraf Ghani
Preceded byHayatullah Hayat
Succeeded byZia-Ul Haq Amarkhil
Ministry of Interior Affairs (Afghanistan)
Deputy Minister of Interior
In office
28 January 2003  27 September 2005
PresidentHamid Karzai
MinisterAli Jalali
Personal details
BornKunar, Afghanistan
CitizenshipUS citizen
Children7
AwardsWazir Akbar Khan medal

Shahmahmood Miakhel (also spelled Shah Mahmood Miakhel; *01.05.1958 in Kunar, Afghanistan) (Pashto: شاه محمود میاخېل) is an Afghan politician.

He was the appointed ambassador for Afghanistan to Qatar before the Taliban overthrew the government.[1][2] During the reign of Ashraf Ghani, he was considered one of the most influential politicians.[3]

Life

Miakhel earned his Master of Business Administration from Preston University in Pakistan. He also studied agriculture at Kabul University and completed a fellowship program at Stanford University on democracy, development and the rule of law.[4] He has been a member of numerous NGOs and government organizations, including UN sub-organizations.[5][6]

Political career

General Austin Scott Miller, with Afghan Acting Defense Minister Shahmahmood Miakhel, participated in the change of command of 209 Shaheen Corps in Mazar-i Sharif, Balkh province on 11th January 2022.

From 2005 to 2009, he was governance advisor/head of the governance unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) for Afghanistan.

Miakhel first gained notoriety as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Interior in 2003 to 2005.[7][8] From September 2009 to February 2019, he served as Country Director at the United States Institute of Peace. He gained a high-profile[9] and popularity especially among the population[10] through the confidence[11] of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who appointed him as governor in Nangarhar.[12][13]

Also during his time in Nangarhar, he succeeded in becoming the first governor in history[14] to ban and sanction foreign currencies. He banned the circulation of Pakistani rupees in Nangarhar after they had been used as Afghan currency in the local market for four decades.[15] Since December 12, 2019, it was forbidden to pay with Rupee or other to pay foreign currencies.[16] According to Afghan statistics, at the time, Nangarhar province was safer than it had ever been.[17][18]

After his voluntary[19] resignation, he was tagged as deputy defense minister.[20] Due to a prolonged illness of the Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid,[21] Shahmahmood Miakhel became acting Minister of Defense. He served from March 11, 2021, to June 25, 2021, and resigned due to internal issues.[22] Miakhel was to be sent to Qatar as ambassador to also participate in the Taliban peace talks.

Private life

Miakhel is married with seven (4 boys and 3 girls) children and holds U.S. citizenship. Miakhel is known for engaging with citizens and critics on social media like Facebook on a daily basis and fighting corruption.[23] He advocates for women's rights[24][25] and is an opponent of the current Afghan Taliban government.[26] He has survived several attacks.[27]

References

  1. Afghanistan: What happens next? | Shahmahmood Miakhel.
  2. "Afghanistan: What happens next? | Shahmahmood Miakhel". Listen Notes. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. "Darum ist Afghanistan so schnell gefallen". www.t-online.de (in German). Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  4. González, Roberto J. (1 April 2004). Anthropologists in the Public Sphere: Speaking Out on War, Peace, and American Power. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-70169-4.
  5. Whitlock, Craig; Post, The Washington (31 August 2021). The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-9821-5900-9.
  6. Mcfate, Montgomery (17 December 2020). Considering Anthropology and Small Wars. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-22528-0.
  7. "Shahmahmood Miakhel". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  8. "WION Global Summit 2022: Money spent on war should be spent on peace instead, says Afghan ex-minister". WION. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. "حيات الله حيات د کندهار او شاه محمود مياخېل د ننګرهار والیان ټاکل شوي | آوا". افغان غږ خبری آژانس (آوا) (in Pashto). 4 February 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  10. Zarifi, Yousuf (5 April 2020). "Some officials, MPs want their kin to skip quarantine: Miakhel". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  11. "Nangarhar, Kandahar provinces get new governors". The Frontier Post. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  12. Johnson, Thomas H.; Adamec, Ludwig W. (15 May 2021). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-4929-4.
  13. Zarifi, Yousuf (18 March 2020). "Nangarhar governor Miakhel". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  14. "د ننګرهار پر والي برید کوونکي ځانمرګی بریدګر نیول شوی دی |". monitor.af. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  15. Zarifi, Yousuf (11 December 2019). "Strict plan on cards to promot afghani in Nangarhar". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  16. zarifi, Yousaf (24 December 2019). "Afghani gains value after ban on foreign banknotes in Nangarhar: Nawsher". Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  17. "شاه محمود میاخېل: سوله باید د اساسي قانون چوکاټ کې تامینه شي". طلوع‌نیوز (in Pashto). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  18. 克雷格.惠特洛克 (23 March 2022). 阿富汗文件: 從911反恐開戰到全面撤軍,阿富汗戰爭真相揭密 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 讀書共和國╱黑體文化. ISBN 978-626-95589-8-8.
  19. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "د ډاکتر ناکامورا د وژنې په تړاو دوه تورن کسان نیول شوي | DW | 09.12.2019". DW.COM (in Pashto). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  20. "consolation and visitation of the First Deputy Minister of Defense from ANDSF injuries at the Regional Hospital of Herat province! | Ministry of Defense". mod.gov.af. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  21. "Shah Mahmood Miakhel First Deputy Minister of Defense visits Herat province! | Ministry of Defense". mod.gov.af. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  22. "Meeting with the 1st Deputy Defence Minister S. Miakhel". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  23. "Archives". DawatMedia24. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  24. awec. "INTRODUCTION OF ADVOCACY GROUP to GOVERNOR". AWEC. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  25. "سید شاه محمود میاخېل د ننګرهار والي په توګه دنده پیل کړه | آریانا نیوز". www.ariananews.af (in Pashto). 9 February 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  26. Sehri, Inam R. (9 June 2022). The History of a Disgraceful Surrender (2021). Grosvenor House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80381-129-1.
  27. Lee, Jonathan L. (8 March 2022). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78914-019-4.
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