Jan Mohammed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other individuals name Jan Mohammed, or some variation thereof, see Jan Mohammed (disambiguation).

Jan Mohammed Khan was the governor of Oruzgan (also written "Uruzgan") province in southern Afghanistan from January 2002 to March 2006.

He is a leader of Oruzgan's Pashtun Populzai tribe that put up fierce resistance to the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, and Khan earned a reputation as a fierce fighter who liberated Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan's capital, from Soviet occupation. Khan was an ally of the Karzai family (who are also Pashtun Populzais), and President Hamid Karzai appointed him Oruzgan's governor in January 2002. Karzai and Khan remain friends. As governor, Khan earned a reputation as a scheming and corrupt leader and a major force in Oruzgan's flourishing opium poppy business. Khan is illiterate and demonstrated no administrative competency, often favoring his own Populzai tribe in legal and administrative decisions and enriching himself on public funds.

In March 2006, President Karzai replaced Khan as governor with Abdul Hakim Munib. Khan took a senior position in the Ministry of Tribal & Border Affairs but continued to meddle in Oruzgan's politics, stirring instability, and seeking through his local allies to undermine the authority of Governor Munib.

Khan has four wives (a fifth was killed under unclear circumstances), and approximately twenty-five children.

[edit] Arrested Guantanamo detainees

During their testimony before their Combatant Status Review Tribunals two cousins named Nasrullah and Esmatulla said that they were personally captured by Jan Mohammed at a checkpoint.^[1] They still don't know why they were stopped.

Esmatulla was alleged to have plotted to kill Jan Mohammed's son.^[1]