Jan Mohammed

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CEKZAI, Afghanistan (March 21, 2005) – The commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, Major General Jason Kamiya (left), presents a coin to Oruzgan Province governor Hajji Jan Mohammed, at the conclusion of a meeting to discuss concerns and solutions to recent flooding that occurred in the village of Cekzai, Afghanistan, March 20. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jerry T. Combes.
CEKZAI, Afghanistan (March 21, 2005) – The commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, Major General Jason Kamiya (left), presents a coin to Oruzgan Province governor Hajji Jan Mohammed, at the conclusion of a meeting to discuss concerns and solutions to recent flooding that occurred in the village of Cekzai, Afghanistan, March 20. U.S.[1] Army photo by Spc. Jerry T. Combes.

Jan Mohammed Khan was the governor of Oruzgan (also written "Uruzgan") province in southern Afghanistan from January 2002 to March 2006.[1]

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. In August 2006, the Dutch (as part of NATO's ISAF mission) took over from the U.S. the military command of Oruzgan province. Through mid-2007, the Dutch troops had not made a significant impact on Taliban-generated instability in Oruzgan. This, coupled with the Dutch refusal to engage in anti-poppy programs to eradicate the province's enormous opium poppy crop, precluded success in stabilizing Oruzgan. As a result, some Dutch pundits and newspapers began calling for Jan Mohammed Khan's return as governor, hoping that despite his illiteracy, corruption, and violence, that he could forcibly stabilize the province and turn the Dutch mission into a success.

Khan has four wives (a fifth was killed under unclear circumstances, it is rumored that he murdered her), 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.[2] They still don't know why they were stopped.

Esmatulla was alleged to have plotted to kill Jan Mohammed's son.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Coalition Forces Land Component Command. "CFLCC Today", United States Department of Defense, March 21, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  2. ^ a b Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Esmatulla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 90-106
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