Sher Mohammed Akhundzada

Sher Mohammed Akhundzada (also known as Sher Ahmed Akhundzada) is a tribal leader who was the governor of Helmand in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2005.

He is from the Akhundzadas family in Northern Helmand who played an important role from the very beginning of the local response to the Communist Party (Hizb-i Demokratik-e Khalq (HDK)) "revolution" in the southwest. Belonging to main tribe of Helmand, the Alizais, they hailed from Musa Qala district in northern Helmand. While in the new districts of Nad Ali and Nawa, where farmers tended to be immigrants from mixed tribal backgrounds and tribal rhetoric had little impact, in the other districts tribal networks remained much more solid, especially in the north. It was first Mullah Mohammad Nasim Akhundzada who became a prominent and leading Jihadi commander in Helmand. The information available on Nasim is contradictory. He appears to have been a charismatic military leader, who could count on a large number of devoted fighters. He is still seen as having led many successful battles against the Russians and Afghan government forces.

Consequently he was able to clear most areas of Helmand, Oruzgan, Farah and Kandahar (Southern Afghanistan) from Red Army and their partners.

After defeating the Red Army, he announced to take steps in eliminating illicit poppy cultivation in the area calling its usage as illegal in Islam and reasoning its cultivation for negatively affecting the society. At that point, Afghanistan was the core attention point of the International Community and hence his step of eliminating poppy was highly appreciated.

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