Northern Alliance

This article is about the 1996–2001 Afghan military front. For the Burmese military front, see Northern Alliance (Myanmar). For the current anti-Taliban resistance movement, see National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. For other uses, see Northern Alliance (disambiguation).
United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
LeadersBurhanuddin Rabbani
Ahmad Shah Massoud
Mohammed Fahim
Atiqullah Baryalai
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdullah Abdullah
Haji Abdul Qadeer
Muhammad Mohaqiq
Karim Khalili
Dates of operationJanuary 1992 – December 2001[1]
HeadquartersTaloqan, Afghanistan (until September 2000)[2]
Fayzabad, Afghanistan (September 2000–November 2001)[3]
Active regionsAfghanistan
IdeologyAnti-Taliban
Anti-Al-Qaeda
Islamic democracy
Size80,000 (1997), 50,000 (2001)
Part of Islamic State of Afghanistan
AlliesState allies:

Non-state allies:

OpponentsState opponents:

Non-state opponents:

Battles and wars

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[4] 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.[1] Defectors such as Rashid Dostum and Abdul Momim allied with Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ali Mazari forming the Northern Alliance.[5][1] 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.[6][1] 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.[6][1]

The Northern Alliance fought a defensive war against the Taliban regime.[4] They received support from India, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States and Uzbekistan,[7] while the Taliban were extensively backed by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.[8] 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.[9] 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[10] and other anti-Taliban figures regrouped as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.

  1. ^ a b c d e f Ahady, Anwar-ul-Haq (1995). "The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan". Asian Survey. 35 (7): 621–634. doi:10.2307/2645419. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2645419.
  2. ^ Davis, Anthony. "Fateful Victory". Asia Week. Retrieved 15 September 2021 – via CNN.
  3. ^ "Military Assistance to the Afghan Opposition: Human Rights Watch Backgrounder October 2001". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Northern Alliance". fas.org. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  5. ^ Rubin, Barnett (1995). The fragmentation of Afghanistan. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 271. ISBN 0-300-05963-9.
  6. ^ a b Rubin, p.270
  7. ^ "Afghanistan's Northern Alliance". BBC News. 19 September 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2012. Until recently, the alliance's main backers were Iran, Russia and Tajikistan.
  8. ^ Coll, Steve (2004). Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Penguin Group. pp. 289–297. ISBN 9781594200076.
  9. ^ "USATODAY.com - Taliban flees Kandahar". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  10. ^ "'Panjshir stands strong': Afghanistan's last holdout against the Taliban". the Guardian. 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2022-06-29.