Atta Muhammad Nur
Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Ata Mohammed Noor; Persian: عطا محمد نور; born 1964) is an Afghan exiled politician and former Mujahid Leader who served as the Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to January 25, 2018. An ethnic Tajik, he worked to educate the Mujahideen after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, gaining the nickname "The Teacher". He then became a mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami against the Soviets.
Atta Muhammad Nur | |
|---|---|
Nur in 2010 | |
| Governor of Balkh | |
| In office 2004 – January 25, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Habibullah Habib |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Ishaq Rahgozar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 (age 59–60) Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan |
| Political party | Jamiat-e Islami |
| Relations | Islam |
| Children | 7 |
| Profession | Politician, former Mujahideen leader |
| Ethnicity | Tajik |
When the Taliban government took power in late 1996, Noor served as a commander in the United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban. He led operations in the Balkh area. In 2004, President Hamid Karzai appointed him as the governor of Balkh province. He has been described by The Economist as being "immensely wealthy." He was removed from the position of Provincial Governor by President Ashraf Ghani in January 2018.
During the 2021 Taliban offensive, Nur, along with Abdul Rashid Dostum, fled Mazar-e-Sharif to Uzbekistan in August 2021.