Northern Alliance
| United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan | |
|---|---|
Top: The flag flown by the United Islamic Front Bottom: Maximum territorial control of the Northern Alliance (blue) against that of the Taliban (red) in Afghanistan in 1996 | |
| Leaders | Burhanuddin Rabbani Ahmad Shah Massoud Mohammed Fahim Atiqullah Baryalai Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdullah Abdullah Haji Abdul Qadeer Muhammad Mohaqiq Karim Khalili |
| Dates of operation | January 1992 – December 2001 |
| Group(s) | |
| Headquarters | Taloqan, Afghanistan (until September 2000) Fayzabad, Afghanistan (September 2000–November 2001) |
| Active regions | Afghanistan |
| Ideology | Islamism Islamic democracy Anti-communism Anti-Taliban |
| Status | Disbanded |
| Size | 80,000 (1997), 50,000 (2001) |
| Part of | Islamic State of Afghanistan |
| Allies | State allies: |
| Opponents | State opponents:
Non-state opponents:
|
| Battles and wars | |
.svg){kind=link}
The Northern Alliance (Pashto: د شمال ائتلاف Da Šumāl E'tilāf or اتحاد شمال Ettehād Šumāl), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (Dari: جبهه متحد برای افغانستان Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān), was a military alliance of groups that operated between early 1992 and 2001 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was formed by government defectors such as Ahmad Shah Massoud, Burhanuddin Rabbani, 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 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 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's (Taliban) takeover of Kabul, the United Front was reassembled.
The Northern Alliance fought a defensive war against the Taliban regime. They received support from India, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States and Uzbekistan, while the Taliban were extensively backed by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. 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. 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 and other anti-Taliban figures regrouped as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.