Khan was illiterate. During the war against the Soviets he served as a commander in the Jamiat-e Islami political party of Afghanistan led by Burhanuddin Rabani in Uruzgan. He later joined Jabha-i-Nijat Milli or National Salvation Front, another jihadi movement led by Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, and remained with the group until the victory of the mujaheddin. He lost an eye during the fighting and in later years gave differing accounts of how he sustained the injury. He was Oruzgan's governor for nearly four years under President Burhanuddin Rabani. Khan quit his job during the Taliban era and spent three years in a Kandahar jail on charges of working for former King Zahir Shah.