The complete story of Northern Alliance of Afghanistan
In early 1996, the Taliban had captured many provinces of Afghanistan. Kabul was now their next target. The capture of Kabul meant a monopoly on power. By the end of January, Kabul was surrounded by the Taliban. They had driven out Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s
Who was this Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was popularly known as the butcher of Kabul. There was a reason behind this name. Whenever there was a cabinet meeting in Kabul, he used to attack there with rockets. After a while, he would stop the attack. Then he reaches with his convoy to take part in the same meeting. Although He was not a part of the government, yet he had the strongest voice.
If no one listened to him, he would go back to his base quietly. Shortly after returning, he would attack again. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami group killed 50,000 people between 1992 and 1995. During this, half of Kabul was ruined.
Even after being so powerful, the Taliban expelled him from Kabul. Taliban’s confidence was high after removing Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. They were confident of their victory in Kabul.
Rise of Ahmad Massoud‘s Northern Alliance
One day, there was a stir in the Taliban base when a man came to talk to the Taliban leaders. He was at the door. Everyone was stunned to know his name. That person was the Defense Minister in the interim government of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Massoud came as a Mujahideen in the fight with the Soviets. People used to praise his bravery. Panjshir was his stronghold. It is said that the Soviet army tried to enter Panjshir valley nine times and faced defeat every time.
The same Massoud reached 100 km away from Kabul in the Taliban stronghold without any security to talk. He had come to the Taliban camp to talk about the future of Afghanistan. He said, “Both of us want Islamic rule in Afghanistan. But I want it with peace and without bloodshed, A government that is liberal and beyond foreign domination.”
Ahmad Massoud continued to explain for 2 hours. He also objected to giving shelter to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. But the Taliban leaders disagreed with him. They wanted to bring the centuries-old religious rule. So, Without an agreement, Massoud returned home.
Disappointed, he said to his people that there is no point in negotiating peace with them. Now, there are only two ways left. Either we bow our heads, or we die fighting. Ahmad Shah Massoud chose the path of struggle. By then, Kabul was half-ruined. The Afghan army was tired of fighting for so many days. Therefore, the Taliban did not face much resistance. After the assassination of Mohammad Najibullah on 27 September 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul.
Ahmad Massoud returned with his confidants to his stronghold, Panjshir. From there, he formed the “Northern Alliance” with its headquarters at Panjshir. He got support from many countries, including Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and India.
Northern Alliance was a group of anti-Taliban fighters. Later, the group extended when many Mujahideen leaders joined him. Panjshir was the only province that the Taliban could not conquer despite being powerful.
After the 9/11 attacks, when the US invaded Afghanistan, it made the Northern Alliance partner. This group was dissolved after the Taliban’s defeat. Many of its leaders joined the government.
It is said that history repeats itself. After 25 years, the same situation is being seen in Afghanistan. After capturing almost all the provinces in Afghanistan except Panjshir, the Taliban has control over Kabul.
An anti-Taliban front has once again emerged in Panjshir. They are challenging the Taliban. And this faction is being named Northern Alliance 2.0
The interesting thing is that this time, the leader of the Northern Alliance is none other than Ahmad Massoud, son of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Let’s go a little in history.
In February 1989, Soviet forces had left Afghanistan. With this, the Soviet and Afghan wars came to an end. This fight was over from the outside, but The battle within the country was yet to come.
Communist leader Mohammad Nizabullah was ruling Afghanistan at that time. Whom the Soviet Union was helping from outside.
The Mujahideen were opposing the Soviets, which became a significant reason for the Soviets to leave Afghanistan. Mujahidin were not yet deterred from the goal of dethroning Najibullah. However, due to Soviet support, that wish remained unfulfilled until December 1999.
At the time, they got a chance as the Soviet Union disintegrated. After that, the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, stopped helping the Najibullah government. Najibullah felt that it was difficult to stay in power now. After his resignation on 16 April, the Mujahideen reached Kabul. Now, the matter of the transfer of power has come to a standstill. At the same time, there was a confrontation between Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Ahmad Massoud said that many groups took part in jihad against the Soviet Union, so everyone has a stake in power. But unlike him, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar believed that he alone was capable of sitting on this throne. He did not want any division in this power, but Massoud only wished to come to Kabul only after agreeing to form the government.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said I would form the government with strength. Ahmad said that if you do this, then I will oppose you along with the public.
Finally, Massoud’s point was accepted. A treaty was signed in Peshawar on 24 April 1992. With this, an interim government was formed in Afghanistan. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi became the acting President of that government. Ahmad Shah Massoud also got the post of Defense Minister. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was offered the position of Prime Minister, but he did not accept it. All the Mujahideen signed the agreement except for him. His anger persisted, and he continued to trouble Kabul until the arrival of the Taliban.
Later, the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996. They formed a government supported by only three countries in the world: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.
In the interim government of Massoud, the Northern Coalition was supported by many countries. The official head of the Northern Coalition was Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was the President of the interim government. Rabbani also ran the embassies of Afghanistan in 33 countries.
Fighting continued between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. Massoud’s old enemies also joined him one by one. On the other hand, Massoud had strengthened his base in Panjshir with his fighters And inflicted great damage on the Taliban. Once again, the conflict between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance continued. However, the Taliban could never conquer the Panjshir Valley.
When Massoud was fighting against the Taliban, where was he getting support from?
Those countries were India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Turkey, and Tajikistan. Ahmad Massod’s anger was also on the fact that Pakistan is directly supporting the Taliban, and they are training terrorist organizations. This was an encroachment on the soil of Afghanistan. Massoud always had a target on his back. Taliban and ISI kept looking for an opportunity to kill Massoud.
Apart from this, the Taliban believes in Sunni Islam. It hates people who believe in any other religion. While the Northern Alliance had Pashtun, Shia, and Hazara, amongst many.
A famous incident was in September 1998 when the Taliban attacked the Iranian embassy in Mazar-i-Sharif. In that attack, an Iranian journalist and ten diplomats were killed.
Enraged, Iran raised 100000 soldiers on the Afghanistan border. Iran was ready to attack the Taliban. Then Ahmad Massoud talked to Iran and explained that they should not make the mistake of the Soviets. You just help us, and we will handle the matter here. Considering his advice, Iran withdrew its army.
Why did Pakistan support the Taliban?
In an interview, Pakistan’s former President, Pervez Musharraf, acknowledged Pakistan’s involvement in the Taliban’s support. He also said directly that we wanted to end the growing influence of India.
Factually, Pakistan has been in Afghanistan since the ’80s, first with Mujahideen, then with the Taliban. The terrorist organization Al Qaeda was also founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1988. Most of the Taliban fighters were based and trained by the ISI in Pakistan, which several intelligence agencies have reported. Despite this, America has never been able to exert the necessary pressure on Pakistan. The result was the 9/11 attack.
After 20 years, the Taliban has returned to power, and with it has come the return of the Northern Alliance In the same Panjshir valley, from where Ahmad Shah Massoud kept on shouting protests. Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated on 9 September 2001.
His assassination had a connection with the attacks of 9/11 on the USA, which killed 3000 people. Several months earlier, he had warned of an attack in his speech at the European Parliament.
Conclusion
Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, is leading Northern Alliance 2.0. Amrullah Saleh, the Vice President of Afghanistan, accompanies him. Ahmad Massoud has said that If the Taliban is not ready for peace, Mujahideen will again take up arms. If this issue is resolved through fighting, we are prepared. We want to bring such an Islamic system that is in favor of the ordinary people.
