Mullah Obaidullah the Akhund (Pashto: ملا عبيدالله آخوند; c. 1968 – March 5, 2010) was the Defence Minister in the Afghan Taliban government of 1996–2001 and then an insurgent commander during the Taliban insurgency against the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai and the US-led NATO forces.

[4] Obaidullah Akhund became the Defense Minister of Afghanistan in April 1997, and the second of two[5] top deputies to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban movement.

[6] In late 2001 or early 2002, Obaidullah surrendered to Afghan Northern Alliance troops near Kandahar and was then released as part of an amnesty.

[7] He was one of the main Taliban military leaders in 2003 and was named to the Rahbari Shura (leadership council).

[10] Obaidullah was freed in November 2007 in exchange for the release of more than 200 Pakistani soldiers captured by the Taliban.