Agha Jan Motasim

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Agha Jan Motasim, also known as Mutasim Agha Jan, was a prominent Taliban leader. He was part of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s top leadership, and served as Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance during the Taliban’s rule. Before the war, he chaired the Quetta Shura’s political committee.

In August 2010, Motasim survived an assassination attempt after he argued that the Taliban should participate in Afghanistan’s mainstream politics and form a broad-based government. He said the attack came from people who didn’t like that idea.

In May 2012, he told the Associated Press that he regretted the assassination of Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban deputy minister who served under President Hamid Karzai.

Also in 2012, Motasim blamed the breakdown of talks with the Taliban on the United States’ failure or unwillingness to honor promises to release Taliban prisoners.

There were rumors of financial corruption during his time as Finance Minister and while in the Quetta Shura, rumors that contributed to his removal in 2009.