Northern Alliance facts for kids
Quick facts for kids United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan |
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.svg)  Top: The Flag flown by the United Islamic Front
Bottom: Maximum territorial control of the Northern Alliance (blue) against that of the Taliban (red) in Afghanistan in 1996 |
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| Leaders | Burhanuddin Rabbani Ahmad Shah Massoud Mohammed Fahim Atiqullah Baryalai Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdullah Abdullah Haji Abdul Qadeer Muhammad Mohaqiq Karim Khalili |
| Dates of operation | January 1992 – December 2001 |
| Headquarters | Taloqan, Afghanistan (until September 2000) Fayzabad, Afghanistan (September 2000–November 2001) |
| Active regions | Afghanistan |
| Ideology | Anti-Taliban Anti-Al-Qaeda Islamic democracy |
| Size | 80,000 (1997), 50,000 (2001) |
| Part of |  Islamic State of Afghanistan |
| Allies | State allies:
Non-state allies: |
| Opponents | State opponents:
Non-state opponents: |
The Northern Alliance (Dari: ائتلاف شمال E'tilāf Šumāl or اتحاد شمال Ettehād Šumāl), officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (Dari: جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان Jabha-ye Muttahid-e Islāmī-ye Millī barāye Najāt-e Afğānistān), was a military alliance of groups that operated between early 1992 and 2001 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. At that time, many non-Pashtun Northerners originally with the Republic of Afghanistan led by Mohammad Najibullah became disaffected with Pashtun Khalqist Afghan Army officers holding control over non-Pashtun militias in the North. Defectors such as Rashid Dostum and Abdul Momim allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ali Mazari forming the Northern Alliance. The alliance's capture of Mazar-i-Sharif and more importantly the supplies kept there crippled the Afghan military and began the end of Najibullah's government. Following the collapse of Najibullah's government the Alliance would fall with a Second Civil War breaking out however following the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's (Taliban) takeover of Kabul, The United Front was reassembled.
The Northern Alliance fought a defensive war against the Taliban regime. They received support from India, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States and Uzbekistan, while the Taliban were extensively backed by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. By 2001, the Northern Alliance controlled less than 10% of the country, cornered in the north-east and based in Badakhshan province. The US invaded Afghanistan, providing support to Northern Alliance troops on the ground in a two-month war against the Taliban, which they won in December 2001. With the Taliban forced from control of the country, the Northern Alliance was dissolved as members and parties supported the new Afghan Interim Administration, with some members later becoming part of the Karzai administration.
Amidst the Fall of Kabul in 2021, former Northern Alliance leaders and other anti-Taliban figures regrouped as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.
Commanders and factions
The United Front was formed in late 1996 against the Taliban government by opposition factions. Since early 1999, Ahmad Shah Massoud was the only main leader able to defend his territory against the Taliban, and as such remained as the main de facto political and military leader of the United Front recognized by members of all the different ethnic groups. Massoud decided on the main political line and the general military strategy of the alliance. A part of the United Front military factions, such as Junbish-i Milli or Hezb-e Wahdat, however, did not fall under the direct control of Massoud but remained under their respective regional or ethnic leaders.
Military commanders of the United Front were either independent or belonged to one of the following political parties:
- the Sunni Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami and Shura-e Nazar, led by Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud
- the Shia Hazara-dominated Hezb-e Wahdat, led by Muhammad Mohaqiq and Karim Khalili
- the Sunni Uzbek and Turkmen-dominated Junbish-i Milli, led by Abdul Rashid Dostum
- the Sunni Pashtun-dominated Eastern Shura, led by Haji Abdul Qadeer
- the Shia Tajik and Hazara-dominated Harakat-e Islami, led by Asif Mohseni and Sayed Mohammad Ali Jawid
Military commanders and subcommanders of the United Front included:
- From northern Afghanistan: Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (Jamiat-e Islami), Atta Muhammad Nur (Jamiat-e Islami), General Atiqullah Baryalai (Jamiat-e Islami), General Shahjahan Noori (Jamiat-e Islami), Mohammed Daud Daud (Jamiat-e Islami), Mohammed Fahim (Jamiat-e Islami), Gul Haidar (Jamiat-e Islami), Muhammad Mohaqiq (Hezb-e Wahdat), Abdul Rashid Dostum (Junbish-i Milli), Qazi Kabir Marzban;
- From eastern Afghanistan: Haji Abdul Qadeer (Eastern Shura), Hazrat Ali (Eastern Shura), Jaan Daad Khan, Abdullah Wahedi, Qatrah and Najmuddin;
- From southern Afghanistan: Qari Baba, Mohammad Arif Noorzai and Hotak;
- From western Afghanistan: Ismail Khan (Jamiat-e Islami), Doctor Ibrahim, and Fazlkarim Aimaq;
- From central Afghanistan: Sayed Mustafa Kazemi (Hezb-e Wahdat), Said Hussein Aalemi Balkhi, Akbari, Sayed Mohammad Ali Jawid, Karim Khalili (Hezb-e Wahdat) and Sher Alam Ibrahimi (Ittehad-e Islami).
The two main political candidates in the 2009 Afghan presidential election both worked for the United Front:
- Abdullah Abdullah (was a close friend of Ahmad Shah Massoud and the foreign minister of the alliance)
- Hamid Karzai (his father was killed by the Taliban, he subsequently went on a diplomatic mission to gather support for Massoud in Europe and the U.S in 2000/2001)
Headquarters
Initially, the city of Mazar-i-Sharif under Dostum's control served as one of the Northern Alliance's headquarters, until the city was overrun in 1997. Under Massoud's control, Taloqan in Takhar Province, north of Panjshir, was the group's headquarters until September 5, 2000, when the city was taken by the Taliban and led to its base moving to Badakhshan Province. Massoud also maintained a private residence in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It was there where Massoud would meet international diplomatic staff who supported the Northern Alliance.
See also
- War in Afghanistan (1996–2001)
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- National Resistance Front of Afghanistan
