Mullah Naqib

Mullah "Naqibullah" الحاج ملانقيب الله اخند
Alikzhai in Pakistan, c.1980s
Born	1950 Arghandab District Kandahar
Died	October 13, 2007(2007-10-13) Arghandab District
Nationality	Afghan
Citizenship	Afghanistan
Occupation	Tribal leader
Known for	anti-Soviet leader, Taliban leader (temporarily), anti-Taliban leader
Home town	Kandahar, Afghanistan
Successor	Haji Karimullah "Naqibi"

Mullah Naqib Alikozai, sometimes called Naqibullah (c.1950 – 11 October 2007), was an Afghan mujahideen commander and politician from the Kandahar area of southern Afghanistan. He was the leader of the Alikozai Pashtun tribe.

Mullah Naqib gained respect as a military leader during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, when he fought against Soviet and Afghan communist forces. In 1984, he became affiliated with the Jamiat-e Islami party of Burhanuddin Rabbani. The Jamiat was often perceived as having a constituency limited to the Tajik community, so Rabbani was especially careful to cultivate his relations with the few Pashtun commanders willing to join him, such as Mullah Naqib.

Naqib's forces built a fortified base in the Arghandab district, that the government troops repeatedly, and unsuccessfully tried to destroy. In June 1987, a large force of government troops, spearheaded by tanks and supported by Soviet artillery attacked into Arghandab. After a week of hard fighting in the "green zone", the dense agricultural area along the Arghandab valley, the force approached the main mujahideen at Chaharqulba. Dismayed by their inability to stop the advancing armour, some mujahideen commanders suggested to Naqib that they should withdraw. A commander described the interview:

Finally, we Mujahideen commanders went to Naqib and said that we are outnumbered and should leave the base. Naqib said that this is their last battle and will decide the contest between them and us.[...] We replied that the RPGs were not working against the sandbagged tanks. Naqib took an RPG and strode out to the forward positions to kill a tank. We commanders stopped him and promised to fight to the end.

Eventually, the government troops withdrew, having suffered heavy casualties.

Mullah Naqib is also said to have personally shot down three Mi-24 gunships using Stinger missiles supplied by the CIA. His military record gave him a heroic status among the local population.