Dr. Abdullah Abdullah has served as Chief Executive for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan since 2014. The newly created role has prime ministerial powers. Dr. Abdullah began his career in Kabul's eye hospital. He served as a foreign minister in the short-lived government headed by the Northern Alliance. Following the fall of the Taliban, he served as foreign minister in Hamid Karzai's administration but resigned in 2006 and registered as an independent candidate to contest the 2009 presidential election.