Noor Ahmad Agha
Noor Ahmad Agha (born 1974), also known as Ahmad Zia Agha, is an Afghan Taliban military person and financial operative who has served as the acting governor of Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), Afghanistan's central bank, since 2024.
Early life
Agha was born in 1974 in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
Career
Agha rose to prominence within the Taliban during the period of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan. In 2008, he was allegedly involved in distributing funds to Taliban commanders operating in Afghanistan and outside the country. By 2009, he was serving as a Taliban finance officer, responsible for disbursing funds directly to Taliban field commanders across the country.
In 2010, he was appointed leader of the Taliban's military shura (consultative council), the body responsible for directing Taliban military operations in western Afghanistan. As a military leader, he was entrusted by the shura's treasurer with hundreds of thousands of dollars to allegedly fund improvised explosive device (IED) operations, and reportedly transferred tens of thousands of dollars to Taliban shadow provincial governors. The Wall Street Journal described him as the "financier of bomb-making" during the insurgency period.
Following the Taliban's return to power in late August 2021, Agha was appointed First deputy governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, making him the second-ranking official at the Taliban-controlled central bank. In that role, he oversaw the institution's work on countering terrorism financing and anti-money laundering portfolios.
On 6 July 2024, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada appointed Agha as acting governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, replacing Hidayatullah Badri, who was simultaneously moved to the role of acting minister of Mines and Petroleum.
The appointment drew international attention given Agha's status as a sanctioned official. Sanctions compliance specialists noted that having an SDGT-designated figure at the helm of the central bank would significantly complicate any international engagement with the institution. The appointment came at a time when the Taliban had been pressing, at the third UN-facilitated Doha meeting, for the lifting of sanctions on Afghanistan's financial and economic systems, a demand that Western governments and the UN linked to progress on human rights and women's rights.
Sanctions
Agha was sanctioned by multiple international bodies for his alleged involvement in Taliban financing activities. In January 2012, the United Nations Security Council's 1988 Sanctions Committee listed him for "participating in the financing, planning, or facilitating the Taliban". The United States Department of the Treasury later designated him as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT), alleging that he managed funds intended for bomb-making and distributed money to Taliban commanders and associates abroad. He is also the subject of sanctions by the European Union in connection with his alleged terrorist financing activities.