[6] Mehdi was born in a small village called Hosh in the Balkhab District of northern Afghanistan to a religious Shia family belonging to the Hazara ethnic group.

He fled with his family to neighboring Iran, returning to Afghanistan after the December 2001 Afghan Interim Administration had been formed.

Mehdi was later fired from the Taliban's head of intelligence position in Bamyan after making a speech against the closure of girls' schools, and his persistent demanding of equality for Hazaras and other Shia Muslims.

He also built a monument dedicated to himself and Abdul Ali Mazari in Balkhab, and he also turned more to his Shia Islamist and Hazara nationalist views.

Mawlawi Ataullah, the Taliban's district governor, fled Balkhab, and Mehdi replaced him with one of his Hazara associates.

[11][12] On 13 June 2022, Mehdi Mujahid gained full control of Balkhab district and his fighters were inflicting heavy damage on the Taliban.

According to the locals and some Afghan media outlets, Mujahid was caught by the Taliban in the village of Bunyad in Kohsan District where he was arrested and had his identity confirmed before being executed.

[19][20][3] Naeemul Haq Haqqani, Taliban provincial information minister, told AFP that Mujahid was “killed after a conflict” and “rumors that he was captured alive are lies”.