Explained: Who are the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan?

Following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the natives are left at the mercy of the militia group. In a bid to oust them, a resistance alliance led by Ahmad Massoud, son of late Afghan politician Ahmad Shah Massoud and Amrullah Saleh is gaining momentum in Panjshir. It comprises of former Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban leaders. 

Ahmad Massoud has urged his compatriots to join him for the freedom of Afghanistan in a video message and through an opinion piece published in The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Amrullah Saleh has declared himself as the caretaker President of Afghanistan, citing the Afghan Constitution. 

Born out of a resistance movement against the Taliban in 1996, the Northern Alliance constituted of rebel groups that operated between late 1996 to 2001 to oust the Taliban-led government. Let us have a look at the Northern Alliance and its 2.0 version. 

Post Soviet Afghanistan

The Soviet-backed government fell in 1992 and the Afghan political parties agreed on Peshawar Accords. The Accords advocated the creation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government for a transitional period to be followed by general elections in the country. 

Except for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's party, Hezb-e Islami, all the other political parties were ostensibly unified under this government in April 1992. His party refused to recognise the then interim government and launched attacks against the government forces and Kabul. Shells and rockets fell everywhere, as per a report by Human Rights Watch. 

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar received operational, financial and military support from Pakistan. Had it not been for Pakistan's support and supply of equipment, his forces would not have been able to target and destroy half of Kabul, as concluded by Afghanistan expert Amin Saikal in Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival.  

Initiation of war

Amid the instability in Afghanistan, the outside forces saw it as an opportunity to press their own agendas. Iran backed the Shia Hazara Hezb-e Wahdat forces of Abdul Ali Mazari while Saudi Arabia supported the Wahhabite Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and his Ittihad-e Islami faction. The conflict between the two militia groups soon escalated into a full-fledged war. 

Due to the sudden initiation of war, Kabul fell into lawlessness and chaos. Concurrently, southern Afghanistan was not affiliated with the central government and was controlled by the local leaders. 

Taliban Movement

Amid this, Mullah Baradar and Mullah Omar set up a madrasa in Kandhar. Together they founded the Taliban, a movement spearheaded by young Islamic scholars for the religious purification of the country and the creation of an emirate.

In November 1994, the Taliban took control of Kandhar and subsequently other provinces in Afghanistan that were not ruled by the central government. 

Battle for the control of Kabul

The same year, the Islamic State's Minister of Defense Ahmad Shah Massoud defeated the militia groups which were fighting the battle for the control of Kabul. The government restored law and order and initiated talks with the Taliban to join the democratic consolidation but the insurgent group refused. 

In early 1995, the Taliban started shelling Kabul but were defeated by forces of the Islamic State under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud. For the first time, civilians became the target of rocket attacks and shelling. 

1996 Taliban offensive

At a time when the Taliban was facing a series of defeats, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia came into play and increased their military and financial support to the insurgent group respectively. 

Ahead of the 1996 Taliban offensive, the government ordered a full retreat from Kabul. On 27 September 1996, the Taliban seized Kabul and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. 

Formation of the Northern Alliance

To oust the Taliban led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum joined hands and established the Northern Alliance. The alliance comprised of Tajik forces of Massoud, Uzbek forces of Dostum, Hazara forces of Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq and Pashtun forces under the leadership of commanders such as Abdul Haq and Haji Abdul Qadir. 

As per several media reports, the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, funded Northern Alliance and extensively extended their support ranging from uniforms, ordnance, mortars, small armaments, refurbished Kalashnikovs, combat and winter clothes.

On the other hand, Pakistan sent forces to fight alongside the Taliban and Bin Laden against the forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud. It also solicited funding, bankrolled Taliban operations, extended diplomatic support, arranged training for Taliban fighters, recruited manpower, provided and facilitated shipments of ammunition and fuel, along with direct combat support. 

An attack was launched by the Taliban on 1 August 1997 on the main military base of Dostum, Sheberghan. The attack, as per Dostum, was successful due to the involvement of 1500 Pakistani commandos and the Pakistani Air Force. 

Allegations on Pakistan

In 1998, Iran alleged that Pakistan is sending its forces alongside the Taliban to bomb Mazar-i-Sharif. It further held Pakistani troops responsible for the war crimes at Bamiyan. The same year, Russia alleged that Pakistan's military aid to the Taliban helped it expand in northern Afghanistan. 

An arms embargo was placed by the UN Security Council against military support to the Taliban in 2000, with UN officials explicitly singling out Pakistan. 

The same year, a British Intelligence report concluded ISI's active role in several Al Qaeda training camps. It highlighted that ISI helped both Taliban and Al-Qaeda with the construction of their training camps.

The assassination of Ahmad Massoud

In early 2001, Ahmad Massoud addressed the European Parliament in Brussels and urged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He further warned of a large scale attack on US soil being imminent. 

Massoud was assassinated by two suicide attackers on 9 September 2001 who were interviewing him posing as journalists. They detonated a bomb hidden in a video camera. Massoud was buried in his home village of Bazarak in the Panjshir Valley and his funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. 

Fall of Kabul in 2001

Post 9/11 terror attacks, the Taliban was ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001 and the Northern Alliance was dissolved. 

In what has been dubbed as the Airlift of Evil, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and ISI combatants were safely evacuated from Kunduz on Pakistan Air Force cargo aircraft to Pakistan Air Force bases in Chitral and Gilgit areas of Pakistan.

Northern Alliance 2.0

Following the fall of Kabul in 2021, a Panjshir resistance force has gained momentum and the flag of the ‘Northern Alliance’ or the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan has been hoisted for the first time since 2001 in Panjshir valley, signalling their return.

Read: Northern Alliance flag hoisted in Panjshir: All you need to know

Also Read: Taliban Changed Afghanistan's Name and Flag: All you need to know