Blasts from my past

A warlord of Tajik origin, Ismail Khan is known as the "Lion of Herat". (he is th oneshaking hands with my hands.)
During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan of 1979, Khan was an officer in the Afghanistan army, reaching the rank of Mujahedin commander.

He was forced to flee after the Taliban took over authority in 1995. While organising opposition against the Taliban, he was handed over to them by his old adversary General Pahlawan after a deal in 1997. Two years later in March 2000 he escaped and worked as a low-profile member of the Northern Alliance.

Ismail Khan is known for his reluctant support for Afghanistan’s central government. In early 2002 there were media reports of a relationship in Herat between Ismail Khan and the government of Iran.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Ismail Khan, in Herat, Afghanistan, on April 27, 2002. and his support was crucial to the new national government.
Ismail Khan controls the border trade with Iran. According to one estimate, this yields $1 million a day in revenue, which is not shared with the Central Afghan government. This has been a source of friction between the two.

(courtsey www.globalsecurity.org)