11 Facts About Toryalai Wesa

Toryalai Wesa was Governor of Kandahar Province from December 2008 to 2014.

Toryalai Wesa is an ethnic Pashtun, possibly from the Mohammadzai branch of Barakzai tribe.

Toryalai Wesa received his MS in 1977 before returning to Afghanistan.

Toryalai Wesa was named senior advisor to the Afghan Minister for Higher Education in 1989 and returned to his native city in 1991 as the founding president of Kandahar University.

Toryalai Wesa obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Toryalai Wesa's thesis was "The Afghan Agricultural Extension System: Impact of the Soviet Occupation and Prospects for the Future".

Toryalai Wesa was chosen by President Hamid Karzai to serve as Governor of Kandahar.

Dr Toryalai Wesa is fluent in English, Persian, German, Arabic, and his native Pashto language.

Toryalai Wesa's immediate family includes a wife and three daughters, one of which is a lawyer and another an economist.

Toryalai Wesa has survived a number of assassination attempts in Afghanistan.

Toryalai Wesa narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on 27 November 2009 when a roadside bomb damaged his vehicle.