KABUL, Afghanistan — Cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan to travel to space, died at the age of 67, according to statements from his family and close friends.
A national hero, Momand succumbed to cancer on June 21 in a Stuttgart hospital, where he had been living since leaving Afghanistan in 1992 during the civil war.
Former President Ashraf Ghani expressed his sorrow on X, saying, “I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Afghanistan’s first and only astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand. I pray that God grants him a high place in heaven and extend my deepest condolences to his wife, children, and other relatives.”
In 1988, the then 29‑year‑old air‑force pilot was selected to join a Soviet space program that sought to send cadres from allied nations into orbit as part of the Soviet‑Afghan alliance during the Soviet occupation.
After intensive training, he flew aboard Soyuz TM‑6 with Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Polyakov, spending nine days aboard the Mir space station conducting scientific research. His return on Soyuz TM‑5 was delayed by one day due to technical difficulties, leaving him and Lyakhov in cramped conditions and at risk of insufficient food and oxygen supplies.
An Associated Press report at the time noted that Momand, then spelled Mohmand, highlighted his prior role in the joint Soviet‑Afghan military effort to quell insurgency, claiming he had flown hundreds of attack missions.
Before launch, Momand told Sovietskaya Rossiya that his mission would aid in identifying Afghanistan’s mineral resources, evaluating hydroelectric potential and studying glaciers and earthquake risks, according to the AP report.
He addressed his fellow citizens in a televised message from orbit, stating that violence cannot be witnessed from outer space.
"I would like to believe that such will be the situation on the land inhabited by my brothers and sisters, on the land of our fathers and mothers who have suffered so much during the years of the war," he was quoted as saying.
He also carried and recited verses from the Quran during his mission, a moment that, according to Ghani, introduced Afghanistan to the world “with national colors and national words,” showcasing its Islamic identity to the cosmos.
“His nine days on the Mir space station allowed Afghans to set aside the bitterness of the 1988 civil wars and the decade that followed,” Ghani added.
Momand was born in the Andar district of Ghazni province in southeastern Afghanistan. He completed training at military academies in both Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.
His death was mourned across Afghanistan, where people remember him as a national hero.
Funeral and memorial arrangements have not been announced. Momand is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.