Atta Muhammad Nur

Attā Muhammad Nur, was born in 1964 in Mazar-e-Sharif city of Balkh province.

Attā Muhammad Nur joined the mujahideen fighting the Soviet presence in Afghanistan in the 1980s{{cite web |url=http://carnegieendowment.org/files/warlords_as_bureaucrats.pdf |title=Warlords As Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience |access-date=2010-09-27 |last= Mukhopadhyay |first= Dipali |date=August 2009 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace}} and became affiliated with the Jamiat-e Islami party. By 1992, he had become one of the most powerful Mujahideen commanders in Northern Afghanistan.{{cite book |last=Giustozzi |first=Antonio |title=Empires of Mud: Wars and Warlords in Afghanistan |year=2009 |publisher=Hurst |location=London |isbn=978-1-85065-932-7 |pages=105}}

Following the fall of Mohammed Najibullah's Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, while remaining a Jamiat commander, he also joined Abdul Rashid Dostum's National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, becoming a deputy leader of that movement during its first congress on June 1, 1992.Giustozzi, p.107 However, ideological differences with Dostum soon emerged, and in 1993, he split from Dostum.Giustozzi, p.149 In January 1994, Atta Noor fought to consolidate the Islamic State of Afghanistan's control over the capital of Balkh, Mazar-i-Sharif, against Dostum's Junbish militia. But Dostum struck first, mobilizing 10,000 men and defeating Atta's forces.Giustozzi, p.168

When the Taliban took power in late 1997, Attā Noor served as a commander in the anti-Taliban United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shāh Massoud. Attā Noor led operations in the Balkh area. Dostum had turned into an ally against the Taliban. On November 9, 2001, Attā Noor's forces and those of Dostum drove the Taliban from Mazar-i-Sharif.{{cite news|first=Tony |last=Karon |title=Rebels: Mazar-i-Sharif is Ours |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,183885,00.html |publisher=Time |date=Nov 9, 2001 |access-date=2010-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030065844/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C183885%2C00.html |archive-date=30 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}

After the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under the Hamid Karzai administration, Ustād Attā's forces clashed with those of Dostum several times. From 2002 onwards, with the support of Jamiat-e Islāmi allies occupying key positions in the Afghan Transitional Administration and the support of the international community which tried to marginalize Dostum for his dubious record, Attā Noor expanded his influence in Northern Afghanistan. He managed to seize Mazar-i-Sharif using little force, only the Khulmi District was taken by force. Attā subsequently attempted to buy the loyalty of local leaders in Faryab, Jowzjan, and Balkh provinces.Giustozzi, p.150 In October 2003, Dostum launched an offensive, and managed to retake many of the positions he had lost since 2002. Near Mazar, Dostum outmanoeuvred Attā's armoured forces, and captured all the key positions around the city.Giustozzi, p.151 The fighting initiated by Dostum around Mazar involved tanks and artillery, and resulted in the death of approximately 60 people.{{cite journal |title=Rashid Dostum: America's Secular Ally In The War On Terror |last= Williams |first=Brian Glyn |date=May 5, 2005 |journal=Terrorism Monitor |volume=1 |issue=6 |via=The Jamestown Foundation |url=https://jamestown.org/program/rashid-dostum-americas-secular-ally-in-the-war-on-terror/ }} Both Dostum and Atta were, however, coming under increasing pressure from the international community and the central government in Kabul to stop the fighting. Attā and Dostum worked out a power-sharing agreement in which Dostum conceded Mazar and most of Balkh province to Attā, who in turn renounced his intention of contesting Dostum's influence elsewhere in Northern Afghanistan.Giustozzi, p.156

Noor has married once and has five sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Khālid Noor, graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst of London in 2014. Tariq Noor is studying Public Administration at the American University in Dubai. His other children are Belal Noor, Suhaib Noor, and Seyar Noor.

File:Thomas de Maizière with Afghan Governor Atta.jpg Thomas de Maizière and Attā Mohammad in March 2010]]

In Late 2004, Attā was appointed governor of Balkh Province by Hamid Karzai. By installing commanders with whom he had fought in the 1980s and 1990s in local government positions, thus turning them away from destabilizing activities, he created a loyal and disciplined local administration. As a result, he acquired a monopoly on violence, and achieved relative security and stability even in the most remote districts, at the cost of authoritarian methods. The security in Balkh Province permitted significant reconstruction and the development of considerable economic activity. Attā Noor is credited for maintaining political control and economic development and security for Balkh province including its largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif. Attā's opium poppy eradication program between 2005 and 2007, advised by consultants from Adam Smith International, successfully reduced poppy cultivation in Balkh Province from 7,200 hectares in 2005 to zero by 2007.

Governor Attā Mohammad Noor supported Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, in the August 2009 presidential election.{{cite web |url=http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/119/article_5865.asp |title=Northern powerbroker calls for Abdullah supporters in government |access-date=2010-09-28 |last=Cross |first=Tony |date=16 Nov 2009 |publisher=Radio France Internationale}}

Attā Mohammad Noor, was widely recognized as the main source of political power in the Province, and had exercised a high degree of control over politics in Balkh. He has used that influence to grow rich through business deals during his time in power.{{cite news|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|title=In Afghanistan's North, Ex-Warlord Offers Security|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/world/asia/18mazar.html|access-date=9 March 2013|newspaper=NY Times|date=May 17, 2010}} No meaningful business in the Province was Transacted without his approval and major real estate in the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, was in the hands of companies Attā owns or controls. He is a key player in the transport industry in Afghanistan's north, including the development of the rail line from Uzbekistan to Mazar-e Sharif. Having transplanted his militia leaders into powerful positions throughout the provincial administration, he maintains a monopoly over violence as well as control over illicit activity.{{cite journal|last=Mukhopadhyay|first=Dipali|title=Warlords As Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience|journal=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|date=August 2009|volume=101|series=Middle East Program|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/warlords_as_bureaucrats.pdf|access-date=9 March 2013}} Attā exercises near-complete control over the security organizations and political operations of the Province.

Nationally, the Province's administration was well regarded.{{According to whom|date=August 2021}} Consequently, it received additional funding and positions through the civil service priority restructuring program and some payments from the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics through the U.S.-funded Good Performance Initiative.{{cite journal|last=Fishstein|first=Paul|title=Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan's Balkh Province|journal=Feinstein International Center|date=November 2010|url=https://fic.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/WinningHearts-Balkh-Province.pdf|access-date=9 March 2013}} Historically, his local political strategy has been to dominate the Province using informal power, rules, and networks. His reputation as a strongman who doesn't tolerate opposition in any form has made him very influential in the area. While his power base does not lend itself to a rule based democracy, given Afghanistan's history of weak central power and its limited resources, the form of governance represented by Attā may be the best compromise at present in Afghanistan.{{According to whom|date=August 2021}}

Opponents of Atta view him as a corrupt power figure whose loyalty from the populace is motivated more by fear than adoration. The President appoints the country's 34 governors, but many believed that President Karzai was too weak to remove Governor Atta. Karzai's opposition raised concerns of violence and rebellion from the populace if the central government were to attempt to reign in Atta's power. Governor Attā Mohammad Noor himself boldly asserts that he will decide whether he remains governor of Balkh Province, not Kabul. Indeed, in 2014 the current Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, fired all 34 Afghan provincial governors, but Atta repeatedly refused to give up the role.{{cite news|last1=Sukhanyar|first1=Jawad|last2=Nordland|first2=Rod|title='They Cannot Remove Me by Force': A Strongman on Afghan Infighting|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/world/asia/they-cannot-remove-me-by-force-a-strongman-on-afghan-infighting.html?ref=topics&_r=0|access-date=17 July 2016|work=The New York Times|date=April 2, 2016}} He was removed from the position of Provincial Governor by President Ashraf Ghani in January 2018.

Although largely supported by the U.S., Atta has publicly spoken out against the U.S. exit strategy from Afghanistan. Attā is vehemently opposed to bringing the Taliban back into negotiations and opposes reconciliation with his former archenemies. Additionally, Attā does not support any permanent American bases in Afghanistan, and reiterates his regional loyalty. Speculation exists that Attā's colorful rhetoric may be linked to the possibility of him running for president, or at the least seeking the leadership of his local political party.{{cite news|last=Hersh|first=Joshua|title=Atta Muhammad Noor, Afghan Governor, Criticizes U.S. Exit Plan|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/atta-muhammad-noor-afghanistan-us-exit-plan_n_1463446.html|access-date=9 March 2013|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=April 3, 2012}}

He and Dostum fled across the Amu Darya when the Taliban advanced on to Mazar-i-Sharif on August 14, 2021. In October 2021, Ata, Dostum, and others including Yunus Qanuni and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf formed the Supreme Council of National Resistance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in opposition to the new Taliban regime.{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-175143|title=Islamic Emirate Reacts to Newly-Formed 'Resistance Council'}}

• Ahmad massoud
• Hasib qoway markaz

{{Reflist}}

• Mukhopadhyay, Dipali. "Disguised warlordism and combatanthood in Balkh: the persistence of informal power in the formal Afghan state." Conflict, Security & Development 9, no. 4 (2009): 535–564.

{{commons category|Atta Muhammad Nur}}

• {{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jan-09-la-fg-afghan-warlord9-2010jan09-story.html |title=In Afghanistan, a governor who answers to no one |access-date=2010-09-28 |last=King |first=Laura |date=January 9, 2010 |work=Los Angeles Times}}
• {{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4118820.stm | title=In the shadow of the gun | access-date=2010-09-28 | author-link = Kate Clark (journalist) | last=Clark | first=Kate | date=30 June 2005 | work = BBC News | archive-date = 2015-07-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150706123514/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4118820.stm | url-status = live }}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/15/world/for-an-ancient-afghan-town-no-end-to-war-with-rival-generals-now-clashing.html?ref=atta_muhammad |title=For an Ancient Afghan Town, No End to War, With Rival Generals Now Clashing |access-date=2010-09-28 |last=Gall |first=Carlotta |date=November 13, 2003 |work=The New York Times}}
• [http://www.seattlepi.com/local/332029_afghan18.html?source=rss Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor visits elementary school in Seattle]

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{{succession box |

before= Mohammad Eshaq Rahgozar|

title= Governor of Balkh |

years=2004–2018|

after= Mohammad Ishaq Rahguzar

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nur, Atta Mohammad}}

Category:Mujahideen members of the Soviet–Afghan War

Category:Governors of Balkh Province

Category:Living people

Category:Afghan Tajik people

Category:Jamiat-e Islami politicians

Category:Tajik politicians

Category:People from Balkh Province

Category:1965 births

Category:Afghan politicians