Ustad Atta Mohammed Noor is the current governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan. He was a high school teacher before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. During the Afghan Communist regime, Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor joined the Jamiat Islami party. He joined an anti-Soviet Mujahideen resistance group in northern Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and later became a commander in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. During the early 2000s he was a prominent anti-Taliban commander in the Balkh area.1
Atta was appointed governor of Balkh Province by Hamid Karzai in late 2004. An ethnic Tajik, Atta is considered the most educated governor in Afghanistan.2 Under his leadership, Balkh Province has been one of the most peaceful and successful in the country.2 Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor in 2007 totally eliminated poppy cultivation in Balkh.
Notes
^ Constable, Pamela (2006) "Top Prosecutor Targets Afghanistan's Once-Untouchable Bosses" Washington Post 23 November 2006, p. A-22
