Abdul Qadeer belonged to the influential Pashtun Arsala family from Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.[3] He was involved in Afghan politics even before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Qadeer fought against them as a key resistance commander with the Hezb-e Islami Khalis faction.[3] After the Soviet retreat in 1989 and the fall of the Afghan communist regime in 1992, Qadeer was appointed governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.[3] In that capacity, he welcomed Osama bin Laden to Jalalabad in 1996.[4][5]