Northern Alliance


The Northern Alliance, officially known as the National United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, was an Afghan military organization which fought the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 during the Third Afghan Civil War. The organization maintained wide international recognition as the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
The group was founded in September 1996, following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, by a number of military commanders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud, Ali Mazari and Abdul Rashid Dostum. The alliance was initially composed of northern Afghan ethnic groups, such as Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks, though later integrated Pashtuns under the leadership of Haji Abdul Haq. The Northern Alliance's main backer was Iran while the Taliban were extensively supported by Pakistan. Due to receiving less aid than the Taliban, the Northern Alliance lost control of pivotal cities and, by 2001, controlled only about 5% of the country, cornered in the northeast and based in Badakhshan province. Its military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated on 9 September 2001, two days prior to the September 11 attacks in the United States, which were carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. In October 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, providing support to Northern Alliance troops on the ground in a short war against the Taliban, which they eventually 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 to the Taliban in 2001, a number of former Northern Alliance commanders and other anti-Taliban leaders regrouped as the National Resistance Front under the control of Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud. As such, the NRF has often been regarded as the successor to the Northern Alliance.

Commanders and factions

The Northern Alliance 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, 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:
Military commanders and subcommanders of the United Front included:
The two main political candidates in the 2009 Afghan presidential election both worked for the United Front:
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.
of groups that operated between early 1992 and 2001 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was formed by military leaders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Momim and Ali Mazari. It consisted mainly of ethnicities from northern Afghanistan, such as Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and Turkmens, as opposed to the Pashtun-led Taliban. 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. 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 Taliban's takeover of Kabul and establishment of their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the United Front was reassembled.

History

Background

During the early 1990s the Najibullah regime funded pro government militias all over the country in order to fight the mujahedeen insurgency however Najibullah, an ethnic Pashtun began to mistrust the mostly non-Pashtun militias in the north many of whom had ties to Ahmad Shah Massoud. In an effort to reassert his control over the supply lines in the North, Najibullah replaced General Abdul Momim, an ethnic Tajik, with General Rasul, a Pashtun Khalqi known for being the brutal commander of Pul-e-Charkhi. Momim refused to step down, he and ethnic Uzbek, General Rashid Dostum defected and allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ali Mazari forming the Northern Alliance. The alliance would take the city of Mazar-i Sharif on March 19, 1992 and launching a massive offensive towards the capital of Kabul. Many non Pashtuns in the Afghan military defected to the alliance.
After removing Najibullah from power the alliance would dismantle as another civil war would break out between the various groups and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami which many Pashtun Khalqists allied with. The civil war would see foreign interference from Saudi Arabia and Iran, as competitors for regional hegemony, supported Afghan militias hostile towards each other. According to Human Rights Watch, Iran was backing the Shia Hazara Hezb-e Wahdat forces of Abdul Ali Mazari in order to "maximize Wahdat's military power and influence". Saudi Arabia supported the Wahhabite Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and his Ittehad-e Islami faction. A publication by the George Washington University describes:
Conflict between the two militias soon escalated into a full-scale war.
Due to the sudden initiation of the war, working government departments, police units or a system of justice and accountability for the newly created Islamic State of Afghanistan did not have time to form. Atrocities were committed by individuals of the different armed factions while Kabul descended into lawlessness and chaos as described in reports by Human Rights Watch and the Afghanistan Justice Project. Because of the chaos, some leaders increasingly had only nominal control over their commanders. Human Rights Watch writes:
Meanwhile, southern Afghanistan was under the control of local leaders not affiliated with the central government in Kabul. In 1994, the Taliban – a movement originating from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam–run religious schools for Afghan refugees in Pakistan – also developed in Afghanistan as a politico-religious force. In November 1994 they took control of the southern city of Kandahar and subsequently expanded their control into several provinces in southern and central Afghanistan not under the central government's control.
File:1996afghan.png|thumb|Map of the situation in Afghanistan in late 1996; Massoud, Dostum and Taliban territories.
In late 1994, most of the militia factions which had been fighting in the battle for control of Kabul were defeated militarily by forces of the Islamic State's Minister of Defense Ahmad Shah Massoud. Bombardment of the capital came to a halt. The Islamic State government took steps to restore law and order. Courts started to work again. Massoud tried to initiate a nationwide political process with the goal of national consolidation and democratic elections, also inviting the Taliban to join the process but they refused as they opposed a democratic system.
The Taliban started shelling Kabul in early 1995 but were defeated by forces of the Islamic State government under Ahmad Shah Massoud. Amnesty International, referring to the Taliban offensive, wrote in a 1995 report:
The Taliban's early victories in 1994 were followed by a series of defeats that resulted in heavy losses which led analysts to believe the Taliban movement had run its course. At that point Pakistan and Saudi Arabia drastically increased their support to the Taliban. Many analysts like Amin Saikal describe the Taliban as developing into a proxy force for Pakistan's regional interests.
On September 26, 1996, as the Taliban with military support by Pakistan and financial support by Saudi Arabia, prepared for another major offensive against the capital Kabul, Massoud ordered a full retreat from the city. The Taliban seized Kabul on September 27, 1996, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.