Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan)

Ministry of Defense

Pashto: د افغانستان ملی دفاع وزارت‎
Department overview
Jurisdiction	Afghanistan
Headquarters	Kabul
Minister responsible	Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai (acting)
Website	www.mod.gov.af

The Afghan Ministry of Defense (Pashto: د افغانستان ملی دفاع وزارت) is an organ of the Central Government of Afghanistan, overseeing the entire Afghan Armed Forces. The current defense minister is Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai (acting). His predecessor was General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi. The President of Afghanistan nominates the minister and the Parliament makes the final approval.

Zahir Azimi is the Major General and spokesman of the Ministry of Defense. From late 2001 to 2004, Mohammed Fahim served as the Defense Minister but was not reappointed, after being accused of illegally occupying land in Kabul. During the same period, Abdul Rahim Wardak was the Deputy Minister. In December 2004, President Hamid Karzai appointed Wardak as the new Defense Minister. He resigned in August 2012.

One of the functions of the Defense Ministry is the continuance of disarming insurgent groups through programmes such as the Afghan New Beginnings Programme. These militant groups coalesced from warlords and former army personnel after the collapse of the Najibullah government in 1992.

List of Defense Ministers

No.	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Political Party
*	Ghulam Haidar Rasuli	1977	April 1978	Republican
*	Abdul Qadir	May 1978	August 1978	PDPA-Parcham
*	Mohammad Aslam Watanjar	30 March 1979	July 1979	PDPA-Khalq
*	Hafizullah Amin	July 1979	27 December 1979	PDPA-Khalq
*	Mohammed Rafie	28 December 1980	1982	PDPA-Parcham
*	Abdul Qadir	1982	September 1984	PDPA-Parcham
*	Nazar Mohammad	September 1984	1986	PDPA-Khalq
*	Mohammed Rafie	December 1986	May 1988	PDPA-Parcham
*	Shahnawaz Tanai	May 1988	March 1990	PDPA-Khalq
*	Mohammad Aslam Watanjar	March 1990	April 1992	PDPA-Khalq
*	Ahmad Shah Massoud	April 1992	9 September 2001	Jamiat-e Islami
*	Mohammed Fahim	9 September 2001	23 December 2004	Jamiat-e Islami
*	Abdul Rahim Wardak	23 December 2004	7 August 2012	None
*	Enayatullah Nazari (acting)	8 August 2012	15 September 2012	Jamiat-e Islami
*	Bismillah Khan Mohammadi	15 September 2012	24 May 2015	Jamiat-e Islami
*	Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai (acting)	24 May 2015	Present

External links

• Official site