List of Famous people born in Afghanistan

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.