List of Famous people born in Afghanistan

Rashid Khan Arman is an Afghan cricketer and the current vice-captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) and the Band-e-Amir Dragons in Afghanistan. He bowls right-arm leg spin and bats right-handed.

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who is serving as President of Afghanistan. He was first elected on 20 September 2014 and was re-elected in the 28 September 2019 presidential election. He was announced the winner after a protracted process in February 2020 and was sworn in for a second term on 9 March 2020. An anthropologist by education, he previously served as Minister of Finance and the Chancellor of Kabul University.

Mohammad Asghar Afghan, and also known as Asghar Salamkhail, is an Afghan former cricketer and a former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Afghan is a right-handed batsman and a medium-fast bowler. In May 2018, he was named as the captain of Afghanistan, for their inaugural Test match, played against India. He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018. On 2 August 2018, he changed his last name from Stanikzai to Afghan.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, also called Mullah Baradar Akhund or Mullah Brother, is a co-founder of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was the deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Baradar was captured in Pakistan by a team of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers in February 2010 and was released on 24 October 2018 at the request of the United States.

Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who was the president of Afghanistan from 22 December 2001 to 29 September 2014. He is also the leader of the Popalzai Durrani tribe of Pashtuns.

Amrullah Saleh is an Afghan politician who is serving as the 1st Vice President of Afghanistan. He served as the Minister of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan until January 19, 2019, and as head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) from 2004 until his resignation in 2010.

Ahmad Massoud is an Afghan politician, the son of anti-Soviet military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was appointed as the Massoud Foundation's CEO in November 2016. On September 5, 2019, he was declared his father's successor at his mausoleum in the Panjshir Valley.

Mohammad Nabi is an Afghan cricketer who has captained the side in limited overs matches. Nabi is an all-rounder, playing as a right-handed batsman and off break bowler. He played a major role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in both their first One Day International in April 2009 and their first Test match in June 2018. He captained the side during their first appearances in the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Nabi has also played in numerous Twenty20 franchise tournaments and was the first player from Afghanistan to be selected in the Indian Premier League player auction.

Naveen-ul-Haq is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in September 2016.

Nadia Nadim is an Afghan-Danish football player who plays as a striker for French Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain as well as for the Danish national team.

Abdul Rashid Dostum is an Afghan politician and Marshal in the Afghan National Army who has served as Vice President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2020. An ethnic Uzbek, he fought for the communist government and the Soviets and in 2001 was the key indigenous ally to US Special Forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple the Taliban government after the 9/11 attacks. He is regarded as a warlord and is known for siding with winners during different wars in Afghanistan. He is the founder of the political party Junbish-e Milli.

Abdullah Abdullah is an Afghan politician who leads the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), which is expected to lead the intra-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban. He served as Chief Executive Officer of the Unity Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from September 2014 until March 2020. From October 2001 to April 2005, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that he was a senior member of the Northern Alliance working as an adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud. He also worked as a medical doctor during the late 1990s.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan politician and former Mujahideen Leader. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party. He has twice served as Prime Minister of Afghanistan during the 1990s.

Mullah Muhammad Rasul is the leader of the High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate, a Taliban splinter group in Afghanistan. He was a Taliban-appointed governor of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. Rasul exerted pressure and suppression on Pashtun factions unpopular with the Taliban, and made a considerable fortune controlling cross-border drug-smuggling through Nimruz.

Mohammad Ismail Khan is a politician in Afghanistan, who served as Minister of Energy and Water from 2005 to 2013. He was previously the governor of Herat Province. He is widely known as a warlord because of his rise to power during the Soviet–Afghan War when he controlled a large mujahideen force, mainly his fellow Tajiks from western Afghanistan. He is a key member of the political party Jamiat-e Islami and was a member of the now defunct United National Front party.

Siyar Bahadurzada is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2001, he has also competed for World Victory Road, Shooto, and RINGS. He is the former Shooto Middleweight Champion.

Ali Ahmad Jalali is an Afghan politician, diplomat, and academic. Jalali served as the Minister of Interior from January 2003 to September 2005. He has also been a distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. In August 2021, amid the collapse of the US-backed Afghan government, Jalali was rumored to become the leader of the Taliban-controlled interim Afghan government, which he has denied on Twitter as "fake news."

Muhammad Sarwar Danish, is an Afghan politician who served as Second Vice President of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021. He previously served as Acting Minister of Justice from 2004 to 2010 and as Acting Minister of Higher Education from 2010 to 2014. When Daykundi province was carved out of Urozgan province in 2004, Danish became its first Governor.

Chékéba Hachemi, is an Afghan feminist and writer. She was the first Afghan woman to be named diplomat, in 2001. She is the President and founder of the NGO Afghanistan Libre.

Zeenat Quraishi Karzai is the wife of former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai and was the First Lady of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Originally from the city of Kandahar, she moved to Kabul, where she lived at the Presidential Palace with her husband and their four children.