Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai
Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai (Pashto: محمد معصوم ستانکزی; 1958) is a former Minister, Chief Peace Negotiator, and chief of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai | |
|---|---|
| Director of the National Directorate of Security | |
| In office 6 May 2016 – 5 September 2019 | |
| President | Ashraf Ghani |
| Preceded by | Massoud Andarabi (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Ahmad Zia Saraj |
| Acting Minister of Defence | |
| In office 24 May 2015 – 4 May 2016 | |
| President | Ashraf Ghani |
| Preceded by | Bismillah Khan Mohammadi |
| Succeeded by | Abdullah Habibi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1958 Logar Province, Afghanistan |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Islamic Republic of Afghanistan |
| Battles/wars | Soviet Afghan war War in Afghanistan (2001–present) |
He became the chief of National Directorate of Security (NDS) in 2016. In 2019, he resigned following an extrajudicial killing of Afghan civilians by a joint US and NDS unit during a night raid in 2019.
Previously, he has served as Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology from 2002 to 2004 and later as a security advisor for President Hamid Karzai. He has also worked as the CEO of the joint secretariat of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program in 2009.
In May 2015, he was nominated as Minister of Defense by President Ashraf Ghani. However, his was repeatedly rejected by the Wolesi Jirga (lower house). He served as acting Minister of Defense for a year through Presidential decree, one of seven incumbents in the period between 2015 and August 2021.