Abdur Rahim Wardak

Abdul Rahim Wardak عبدالرحیم وردگ


Minister of Defence
In office 23 December 2004 – 7 August 2012
President	Hamid Karzai
Preceded by	Mohammed Fahim
Succeeded by	Bismillah Khan Mohammadi

Personal details
Born	1945 (age 72–73) Maidan Wardak, Afghanistan
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	National Military Academy of Afghanistan

General Abdul Rahim Wardak ( pronunciation /ˈɑːbˈdɑːl rɔːˈhiːm wɑːˈdɑːk/ (عبدالرحیم وردگ)) (born in 1945 in Wardak, Afghanistan), an ethnic Pashtun, was the Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004 by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Before this appointment, Wardak was the deputy Defense Minister to the former minister, Mohammed Fahim. During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, Wardak had been a national Mujahideen resistance leader who fought the Soviet forces. He is an ethnic Pashtun from the Wardak province. His diplomacy has been instrumental in promoting ethnic reconciliation due to his lineage from tribal chieftains with strong Pashtun relationships with all ethnic groups of the country. He is fluent in Pashto, Dari (Persian), and English.