Asadullah Khalid

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Asadullah Khalid
Asadullah Khalid with US soldiers in 2004
Governor of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
Incumbent
Assumed office 2005
Preceded by	Gul Agha Sherzai

Religion	Muslim

Asadullah Khalid is the current Governor of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan. He previously served as Governor of Ghazni Province, from 2001 to 2005.

1 Biography
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Asadullah Khalid is a former Kabul University drop-out, he left his political science course to fight the Taliban. He fought shoulder to shoulder with Ahmad Shah Massoud in the Northern Alliance.^[1]

He became the governor of Ghazni province after the removal of the Taliban government and until 2005. After a re-shuffle in 2005, by President Hamid Karzai, Khalid was shifted from Ghazni province to become the new governor of Kandahar province. He is an ethnic Pashtun.

On October 19, 2006 Assadullah Khalid told that it appeared to him no Taliban insurgents were in the village at the time of a NATO airstrike, which left giant pieces of mud packed with straw scattered along the narrow lane of the Ashogho village. Khalid, who traveled to Ashogho, about 15 miles west of Kandahar City, said nine people were killed, including women and children, and 11 wounded. Residents said 13 were killed, including four women, and 15 wounded. The governor stuck with his figures when contacted later in the day. He said Hamid Karzai expressed his sympathy after he called the president on his cell phone from the village. Asadullah Khalid was saddened by the deaths of innocent civilians. It seemed clear from the villagers that no Taliban fighters were in their village when the bombing occurred he told. "It is hard to know when the Taliban are moving around from one place to another, but it seems they weren't here," he said. He has promised to rebuild the homes. As he walked away from the angry villagers and climbed into his car, Khalid whispered to himself: "And how are we supposed to bring security to the country with this kind of thing happening?" ^[2]

In early 2007, Asadullah Khalid escaped an assassination attempt. He was targeted by a suicide bomber in which his motorcade was destroyed but he survived with only minor injuries.^[3]