Mulla Obaidullah was born in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan[1] and was believed to be born approximately in 1968. He is an Alakozai.[2] Obaidullah Akhund became the Defense Minister of Afghanistan in the 1990, and the second of three top deputies to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement. Obaidullah was seen as the "number three" man in the Taliban.[3] In late 2001 or early 2002, Obaidullah surrendered to the Afghan Northern Alliance troops but was released as part of an amnesty.[4] He was one of the main military leaders in 2003 and was named to the Mujahideen Shura Council.[5] Abdul Latif Hakimi, who was captured by Pakistan in 2005, said that Obaidullah was one of two people with direct access to Mullah Omar and that Obaidullah had personally ordered insurgent attacks, including the killing of a foreign-aid official in March 2005.[1]