Northern Alliance
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- This article is about the group of factions in Afghanistan. For the Canadian white supremacist group, please see Northern Alliance (White supremacist organization).
The Northern Alliance (who prefer the title United Front) were a group of factions who had the common goal of toppling the Taliban regime that was formerly in power in Afghanistan. They fought against the Taliban control that had expanded from Kandahar in 1994 to capture most of Afghanistan by September 2001. The Northern Alliances headquarters were in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Factions
The Northern Alliance was comprised of roughly five of the factions of mujahedin fighters. Iran and Turkey considered there to be seven factions in total, including the Taliban. These groups are:
- Islamic Party of Afghanistan - Jamiat-I Islami-yi Afghanistan - Made up of Tajiks who speak Farsi, led by Burhanuddin Rabbani,
- Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan - Hizb-I Wahdat-I Islami-yi Afghanistan - Made up of Shia Hazaras, led by the martyred Abdul Ali Mazari, supported by Iran
- National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan - Junbish-I Milli-yi Afghanistan - Made up of Uzbeks and former communists, led by Abdul Rashid Dostum, supported by Turkey
- Islamic Movement of Afghanistan - Harakat-i-Islami-yi Afghanistan - Shia, led by Ayatollah Muhammad Asif Muhsini
- Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan - Ittihad-I Islami Bara-yi Azadi - Led by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf
Many members are ethnic Tajiks (which may be a factor in Tajikistan's willingness to help the United States in the conflict), Uzbeks and Hazaras - ethnic minorities in Afghanistan. The factions in the Alliance consist of members from the former mujahedin, others from different minority groups and remnants of the former Soviet-backed communist government.
The Northern Alliance enjoyed support from India, while the Taliban were close to Pakistan until the September 11, 2001 attacks when Pakistan backed off due to pressure and the hope of debt relief.
History
The mujahedin predecessors of the Northern Alliance forces previously showed themselves unable to rule effectively, however, turning on each other after they took control in Kabul in 1992 from the Soviet-backed regime. This bloody feuding between forces loyal to President Burhanuddin Rabbani and rival factions ultimately cleared the way for the Taliban conquest in 1996.
The political leader of the alliance is Burhanuddin Rabbani. Several important military leaders controlled different factions within the alliance, including Abdul Rashid Dostum, General Mohammed Fahim, and Ismail Khan. Ahmed Shah Massoud had been the main military leader and an important political figure in the alliance until his death, which was publicly confirmed on September 13, 2001, following an attack by assassins four days earlier on September 9.
In November and December of 2001, the Northern Alliance was successful in advancing to control much of the country, including the capital Kabul. This was facilitated by extensive bombing of Taliban forces and military infrastructure by the United States during the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan.
Human rights groups say the Northern Alliance's predecessors was responsible for brutal excesses during the factional civil strife that raged before the Taliban took over most of the country in 1996.
External links
- Unlikely U.S. allies in Afghanistan Anti-Taliban coalition is motley band with shady past, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/27/2001 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/27/MN229057.DTL)
- Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan images of Northern Alliance atrocities (http://www.rawa.org/s-mazar.htm)
- Amir Butler: Who are the Northern Alliance? (http://www.amirbutler.com/archives/2001/11/03/17)