Abdul Hamid Khorasani: The Opportunist of Panjshir Creates Headaches for Afghan Taliban

Abdul Hamid Khorasani: The Opportunist of Panjshir Creates Headaches for Afghan Taliban

Executive Summary:

• Abdul Hamid Khorasani is an opportunistic Taliban military commander from Afghanistan’s Panjshir Province. An ethnic Tajik popular in his home province, Khorasani had previously voiced opposition to the Pashtu-dominated Taliban. Protected by his association with the Haqqani network, Khorasani has been able to criticize the Taliban’s ethnic policies and threaten war with Iran and Pakistan, challenging Kabul’s efforts to court Tehran and Islamabad.
• Known as one of the country’s most wanted criminals under the U.S.-led regime, Khorasani appears to have been radicalized during a period spent in prison, after which he emerged as a pro-Taliban figure. He has held a number of different provincial roles under the current regime, the most recent of which he resigned out of protest in May.

Abdul Hamid Khorasani (alias Nasser Badri) is an ethnically Tajik Taliban military commander from Panjshir Province in Afghanistan. Khorasani is a commander in the Taliban’s elite Badri 313 Battalion, which—much like himself—is closely associated with the Haqqani network (Hasht e Subh Daily, April 22). Following the release of video clips by non-Pashtun Taliban fighters allied with Khorasani where they decried their prejudicial treatment by the Taliban’s leadership, Khorasani and his fellow fighters tendered their resignations (X/@AfghanAnalyst2, May 12). This was considered a rebellion within the Taliban ranks, which could pit the Pashtun Taliban against the non-Pashtun Taliban (Mashriq Vibe, May 11). However, during the border skirmishes between the Pakistani security forces and Taliban fighters in the days following Khorasani’s resignation, Khorasani visited Dandpatan in Paktia Province to still show his support for the Taliban fighters (X/AfghanAnalyst2, May 17).

Khorasani has raised objections with the Taliban’s leaders over the matter on several occasions in the past. For instance, in 2023 he protested against the Taliban’s mistreatment of himself and other non-Pashtun Taliban, claiming that “he has faced unprecedented humiliation and insult from the Taliban leadership” (Afghanistan International, June 24, 2023). When his brother, Qari Abdul Moqim, was arrested by the Taliban in 2022, Khorasani stated that it occurred because of his Tajik ethnicity, rather than any sort of crime (Aamaj News, November 19, 2022). Khorasani has a criminal past and has recently become the target of Pashtun Taliban criticism. Many in the Taliban’s senior leadership distrust Khorasani due to his dubious personality, antics, and consistent claims of being a target of discrimination.

Criminal Past

Khorasani was involved in crimes before he joined the Taliban in 2021, and was considered one of the former U.S.-backed Afghan government’s most wanted criminals. Khorasani was notorious for his involvement in extortion, kidnappings, murders, and robberies. He also led a movement named Nahzat-e-Islami Muqawomat (The Khama Press, June 25, 2019; TOLO News, January 9, 2019). However, besides committing crimes, Khorasani was also involved in anti-Afghanistan activities in the past. On June 25, 2019, for example, Khorasani was arrested for participating in a demonstration in Kabul, where he burned the flag of the Republic of Afghanistan. During the demonstration, Khorasani pointedly waved the green, white, and black flag of the Northern Alliance.

Khorasani’s arrest at that time led to massive protests from people in Panjshir, demanding that President Ashraf Ghani release him (iMedia, May 19). Khorasani’s involvement in numerous demonstrations and protests orchestrated by politicians appears to have been driven by financial incentives. For instance, the former Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud and the former Governor of Balkh Province Atta Mohammad Noor would pay Khorasani to work for them and feature their pictures on his banners. Every year, on the anniversary of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s death, Khorasani would also organize an armed rally in the streets of Kabul (Hasht e Subah Daily, May 15). Due to such activities, he was despised by loyalists of the former Afghan government.

Joining the Taliban

Although he was initially opposed to the Taliban, Khorasani eventually became inclined toward religious extremism. This occurred during his imprisonment under the former Afghan government and seems to have been solidified after he met with Salafi cleric Zaher Daei. Following his joining the Taliban, the organization appointed Khorasani as the security chief of Panjshir (TOLO News, March 20, 2022). He then pursued the anti-Taliban elements in Panjshir, arresting hundreds of them. Khorasani became one of the prime suspects in the killing of Akmal Amir, a well-known anti-Taliban commander.

Moreover, Khorasani developed strong ties with the Haqqani network and was supported by its leader and the current Afghan Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. However, Khorasani’s relations with the Pashtun-centric Kandahari Taliban have remained poor. Khorasani is also alleged to have private prisons where he detains and interrogates dissident Afghans before handing them over to Taliban intelligence. Ever a financial opportunist, accruing financial benefits appears to have been another key aspect of Khorasani joining the Taliban. Where once he criticized the Taliban during the previous Afghan government, Khorasani would later serve the Taliban, rendering his services for a fee (Hasht e Subah Daily, May 15).

However, Khorasani was later dismissed as the Taliban’s security chief for Panjshir after locals accused him of abusing his authority. Following his dismissal, Khorasani alleged that he was not dismissed by the Taliban’s central leadership but by the governor of Panjshir, Malawavi Qudratullah. He had turned against the provincial governor and accused him of mistreating the residents of Panjshir, urging the Taliban leadership to dismiss Qudratullah (TOLO News, March 20, 2022). Khorasani also survived an assassination attempt by the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front (NRF) on January 29, 2022 (Pajhwok Afghan News, January 29, 2022). The NRF is led by Ahmad Massoud—the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the man Khorasani organized rallies in Kabul just years earlier (see Militant Leadership Monitor, December 5, 2022).

Controversial Figure

Since joining the Taliban, Khorasani has been involved in a number of controversies. This year, for example, he married for the fourth time in an ostentatious ceremony, which included an escort composed of a convoy of military vehicles (X/AfghanAnalyst, May 2, 2024). This extravagance drew criticism from the Taliban.

In March, when the Pakistani forces clashed with the Taliban at the Durand Line (the officially recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan), Khorasani also attacked the Pakistani army chief, General Asim Munir. Khorasani stated, “The holy warriors of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shall soon overthrow your infidel and oppressive government. Pakistan shall be eradicated from the face of the planet upon the orders of [Afghan Taliban Supreme Leader] Mullah Hibatullah.” In another video, Khorasani responded to the former interim information minister of Balochistan, Jan Achakzai, by stating, “My message to Jan Achakzai, Asim Munir, Asif Zardari is that Afghans defeated the British, Russia, and USA. Pakistan is insignificant for us. Taliban fighters and TTP together will fight Pakistan’s apostate army.” Previously, Achakzai had posted on his X account that, “If another terrorist attack takes place in Pakistan, the Taliban have already been warned. There will be no other option. Pakistan will quickly enter Afghanistan and directly connect to Central Asia by capturing the Wakhan Corridor” (News Intervention, March 22).

Khorasani has also seized vehicles and properties of individuals who have fled Afghanistan. He currently resides in the house of Haji Homayoun, the former owner of Khurshid Television. He has also confiscated Land Cruisers belonging to the officials of the former Afghan government and now uses them as his own vehicles. Khorasani has repeatedly freed Panjshiri youths after arresting and torturing them in exchange for money (Hasht e Subah Daily, May 15).

Saber-Rattling Against the Neighbors

In January, in a live discussion with Afghanistan International TV about General Asim Munir’s remarks, Khorasani asserted that the Taliban are impatiently awaiting the start of Ghazwa-e-Hind, an Islamist prophecy that speaks of Islamic armies taking India as part of the end of times, to conquer Pakistan. In the same discussion, he explained why the Taliban leadership did not respond to General Asim Munir’s comments. Khorasani suggested that the Taliban do not consider Pakistan as their counterpart, but rather consider it a puppet whose counterparts are countries like the United States and United Kingdom (X/AfghanAnalyst2, January 27). Previously, in a session with students from public and private sector universities in Pakistan, General Asim Munir commented that “When it comes to the safety and security of every single Pakistani, the whole of Afghanistan can be damned” (The Express Tribune, January 25).

In November 2023, Khorasani met the TTP chief, Noor Wali Mehsud, to discuss the TTP’s operations in Pakistan as well as the destruction of Pakistan’s secular system and its eventual replacement with an Islamic one. Khorasani also held a prayer session with the TTP fighters in the presence of some Afghan Taliban members, calling for the TTP’s victory in Pakistan. Notably, this included mention of Afghan Taliban assistance, with an eventual raising of the Afghan Emirate’s flag over Islamabad (X/Natsecjeff, November 4, 2023).

During the Iran–Afghanistan border clashes over a water dispute in May 2023, Khorasani also exclaimed that Afghanistan “[w]ill conquer Iran soon if the Taliban leader gives the green light” (Middle East Monitor, May 30, 2023; see Terrorism Monitor, August 8, 2023). Previously, Khorasani published a video clip in which he warned Iran that, “It owes gratitude to the patience of the Taliban leadership; otherwise, the Taliban forces will fight Iran more enthusiastically than they did in the jihad against the United States.” At around the same time, Khorasani resigned from the position of governor of Ahmad Aba District in Paktia Province, citing differences with the Taliban leadership (X/AfghanAnalyst2, May 21, 2023). He had held this position for only two months. Adding to the mixed signals, Khorasani had once announced that he would quit the Taliban and live a civilian life. Though evidently not followed through on, Khorasani’s statement came from late 2022, after his cousin had been killed by the Taliban while fighting for the NRF (X/Natsecjeff, August 28, 2022).

Conclusion

The Taliban leadership fears that Khorasani poses a threat to their regime, suspecting that he is exploiting ethnic divisions within their ranks for his own advantage. Khorasani is an opportunist who previously benefitted from bullying the former Republic and is now taking advantage of the ethnic tensions in the Taliban regime. Khorasani’s unrestrained statements are actively harming the Taliban’s relationship with its neighbors, something Kabul can ill afford. At the same time, the Taliban cannot risk expelling Khorasani from their organization over fears that he might subsequently align with either Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) or the anti-Taliban resistance forces (like the NRF).