What is the Northern Alliance?

The Northern Alliance (also known as the United Front) is the opposition coalition in northern Afghanistan that comprises major elements of the U.S.-backed mujahedin forces that pushed the Soviet Union out of the country and toppled the government of President Najibullah in 1992, as well as some of the ethnic-based elements of the Najibullah regime.

This coalition of ethnic factions and warlords governed Afghanistan between the fall of the communist government in 1992 and the victory of the Taliban in 1996. Its period of rule was marked by chaos, fundamentalist rule, and internecine violence that leveled nearly one-third of the capital city of Kabul. Corruption was widespread in Kabul, while bandits and opium magnates controlled much of the countryside. The Taliban was able to seize power in 1996 in large part because the desire for stability and order among Afghanis was so great that they were willing to risk rule by a fundamentalist regime.

During the period of Taliban rule, the Northern Alliance controlled approximately 10% of northeastern Afghanistan and scattered pockets throughout the country. Two minority ethnic groups, the Tajiks and the Uzbeks, dominate the Alliance. Russia and Iran offered some support to the Alliance, while neighboring Pakistan has opposed its efforts to regain power.

The Northern Alliance has an unimpressive human rights record. According to Human Rights Watch, the Northern Alliance has deliberately targeted civilians, carried out summary executions, burned and looted houses, used child soldiers, and never held any of its commanders responsible for these human rights violations. Its operations have been financed in part through the opium trade.

Concerns about the human rights abuses, the ethnic factionalism, and the governing capacity of the Northern Alliance have nagged the opportunistic U.S. support of this opposition army since the beginning of Washington's campaign to topple the Taliban regime. These concerns rose in prominence when Taliban forces abandoned Kabul, leaving it open to Northern Alliance soldiers and newly formed security forces.

The three major factions within the Northern Alliance are the following:

Islamic Society: Headed by former President Burhannudin Rabbani and, until his assassination in September 2001, military chief Ahmed Shah Massoud, this faction is predominantly Tajik and controls the Panjshir Valley and other areas in northern Afghanistan. Ismail Khan, another legendary mujahedin commander who was governor of Heart Province from 1992 until 1995 and escaped from a Taliban prison last year, could emerge as the faction's new leader.

National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan: Led by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam, who served under Najibullah before helping broker his ouster, this group is predominantly Uzbek. Its control has been sharply reduced to small areas along the border with Uzbekistan since Taliban forces captured its headquarters at Mazar Sharif in August 1998.

Unity Party (Hizb-e-Wahdat): Although split into two major factions since 1995, this group represents most Hazara Shiite Muslims traditionally concentrated in Afghanistan's western Herat province and central Bamiyan province, from which hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced by fighting and drought in recent years.

Sources for More Information

Military Assistance to the Afghan Opposition, Human Rights Watch Backgrounder
October 2001
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/afghan-bck1005.htm

Afghanistan Conflict Profile
Jim Lobe and Abid Aslam, FPIF
http://www.fpif.org/selfdetermination/conflicts/afghan.html

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