Afghan Biographies

Mir Alam Khan


Name Mir Alam Khan
Ethnic backgr. Tajik
Date of birth
Function/Grade Warlord Kunduz Kundus
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions:
Commander of the 54th division 6th military corps (2001)
Provincial Police Chief of Baghlan Province (2005,2006)

3. Biodata:

Miralam Khan Mirallam Khan Mir Alam Khan: After having been occupied by the Taleban in 1997, Kunduz remained their last stronghold in the north in late 2001, during the US/Northern Alliance campaign to remove the Taleban from power. The city was then controlled mainly by Jamiati strongmen, the foremost being Amir Mir Alam, the commander of the 54th division, part of the 6th military corps of the army of the Northern-Alliance-led Islamic State of Afghanistan. Later on, it came under the process of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), a programme designed to disband the civil war militias, which ran from 2003 to 2006. Although the 54th division was officially disarmed, the process was rather nominal. Local commanders like Mir Alam were protected by senior Jehadi leaders and power holders in the central government and were able to keep many of their loyalists armed.

Mir Alam Khan is former mujahedin commander. He was a member of Jamiat-e-Islami.

Now he is the Head of a Militia, who has liberated a number of villages in this Northern Afghan province of Kunduz from the radical Islamic Taleban. Many of the ‘new’ militia leaders are old mujahedin commanders who were supposed to be disarmed by the post-2001 DDR program but seem to have been able to keep weapons anyway. Miralam Khan says ‚ that he has nothing to do with militias. He says he is as a “very normal official of the Ministry of Interior.

Mir Alam Khan partly controls the money market of Kunduz, is said to be heavily involved in drug-trafficking and operates an extensive network of informants and supporters who are mainly former companions. He makes no pretence of his ambitions to become chief of police in Kunduz province and the reach of his influence was clearly manifested when he thwarted the appointment of [HIG-affiliated] Juma Khan Hamard as governor of Kunduz province in 2007. Since 2009 he has been one of the main militia commanders in Kunduz province, a position that was additionally backed by his brother in law, General Daud, until the later was assassinated in May 2011.
Miralam cooperated with the American Special Forces” who had given him “practical support” bombarding an area from the air. This report raises the question whether at least some of these militias are part – or act with the knowledge – of the Afghan Ministry of Interior. It wouldn’t have been the first time that MoI officials used their ‘soldiers’ (as they are still sometimes called in a reminiscence to the time when Afghan conscripts were divided between the army and the police – a practice abolished after 2001 and still criticized by many in the Afghan parliament and the armed forces) for private security companies. Furthermore, it seems to become clear from this report that some militias coordinate their operations with US forces, even receiving air support.
2008 onwards Majid, formerly a junior commander of Amir Mir Alam, was head of provincial NDS.

In case of civil war after the western troops withdrawal it is said, that Mir Alam will take Kunduz. (20120720).

Wolesi Jirga MPs accused two high ranking government authorities of involvement in a recent violent incident in Kunduz. MPs said that these authorities had misuses tribal issues for their political benefit and had distributed weapons to locals under the guise of arming local police. They said that Commander, Mir Alam, who belongs to Jamiat-e Islami party and who is associated with the First Vice President and former Interior Minister, was behind the civilian killings in Kunduz. They rejected claims that local police were behind the incident.(20120904)

In late June 2014, Mir Alam said he was in an “emergency mode”, ready to mobilise his network of commanders and militias if he should be called upon by Abdullah to “reject the results of the Presidential Election 2014.(20140620)
Mir Alam controls and supports militias in the province of Kunduz. Mir Alam’s reported areas of influence extend to Kunduz district (Kunduz city, Gor Tepa, Kanam, Azrat Sultan, Quchi, Kobayi, Abtaj, Azqalan, Tarnab, Shurabi, Panjshiri, Andijani), Chahar Dara (Sujani, Mang Tepa), some villages in Qala-e Zal, Khan Abad and Ali Abad.

A Human Right Watch (HRW) report, released March 3, 2015 profiles of "strongmen" linked to police, intelligence, and militia forces responsible for serious abuses in recent years.  Among them is Mir Alam, a former senior commander with the Jamiat party. (20150304)

Qadirak was a well-known commander supported by Mir Alam. Qadirak commanded 200 to 300 armed militiamen and had taken part in several offensives against the Taliban in Khanabad. On 9 August 2015, a suicide bomber targeted a gathering where 29 local militias, including Qadirak and four of his sub-commanders, were killed
 

Kunduz NDS chief Daud Ibrahim sister is married to Mir Alam.

Last Modified 2016-02-02
Established 2010-03-09