Bismillah Khan Mohammadi

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi
Bismillah Khan in May 2012
Minister of Defence
In office 15 September 2012 – 24 May 2015
President	Hamid Karzai Ashraf Ghani
Preceded by	Enayatullah Nazari (acting)
Succeeded by	Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai (acting)
Minister of Interior
In office January 6, 2010 – September 15, 2012
President	Hamid Karzai
Preceded by	Mohammad Hanif Atmar
Succeeded by	Mujtaba Patang
Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army
In office March 8, 2002 – January 6, 2010
President	Hamid Karzai
Succeeded by	Sher Mohammad Karimi
Personal details
Born	1961 Panjshir, Afghanistan
Political party	Jamiat-e Islami
Religion	Sunni Islam
Military service
Allegiance	Afghanistan
Service/branch	Afghan National Army
Rank	General
Commands	Chief of Staff of the ANA

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (Persian: بسم‌الله خان محمدی; born 1961 in Panjshir Province), or Bismillah Khan, is the former Defense Minister of Afghanistan. From 2002 to 2010, he served as Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army and from 2010 to 2012 he held the post of Interior Minister of Afghanistan. He has an anti-Taliban background and once served as a senior commander under Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi was born in 1961 in the Panjshir Province of Afghanistan. An ethnic Tajik, he is the son of Ghausuddin of the Panjshir Valley. After graduating from 14th grade in Abu Hanifa Seminary he enrolled at Kabul Military University. Mohammadi was a former PDPA Parcham member, but after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan he aligned himself with mujahideen resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

When the Taliban gained control over large parts of Afghanistan in 1996 establishing their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Bismillah Khan served as Deputy Minister of Defense of the anti-Taliban and still recognized Islamic State of Afghanistan. He was a senior commander in the anti-Taliban resistance, the United Front (Northern Alliance), led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent fall of the Taliban regime through United Front ground troops and the U.S. Air Force, Bismillah Khan was appointed commander of Kabul's police force and became a member of the Kabul Security Commission. During that period the security situation in Kabul was better than in other parts of Afghanistan.