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The Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen, also known as the Seven Party Mujahideen Alliance, or Peshawar Seven[1] was an alliance formed in 1988 (see Alliance Formation below) by the seven Afghan mujahideen parties fighting against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan forces in the Soviet–Afghan War.[2][3] The alliance sought to function as a united diplomatic front towards the world opinion, and sought representation in the United Nations and Organisation of the Islamic Conference.[4]
The constituents of the Peshawar Seven alliance fell into two categories, the political Islamists: Hezb-e Islami Khalis (Khalis), Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (Hekmatyar), Jamiat-e Islami (Rabbani), and Ittehad-e Islami (Sayyaf), and the traditionalists: Mahaz-e Milli (Gailani), Afghanistan National Liberation Front (Mojaddedi), and Revolutionary Islamic Movement (Mohammadi).
All of the groups were Sunni Muslims, and all were majority Pashtun except Jamiat-i-Islami, which was predominantly Tajik. They were called the Peshawar 7 and were supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Another, smaller but dominant Mujahideen alliance, was composed of mainly Shi'a Muslims.[5] It was named the Tehran Eight – an alliance of eight Shia Afghan factions, supported by Iran.
In February 1989 the groups attempted to form a coalition government in exile from Peshawar, which they called the Afghan Interim Government (AIG). The AIG aimed to base themselves in the city of Jalalabad and attack the administration in Kabul. However, the mujahideen failed to win the 1989 Battle of Jalalabad.[6]
Although Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen alliance took its formal shape in the mid-1980s, it had de facto existed as a political bloc since May 1979, when the Pakistani government decided to limit the flow of foreign financial aid, mainly from the United States (under the Reagan Doctrine) and Saudi Arabia, to the said seven organizations, thus cutting off monetary supply to nationalist and leftwing resistance groups.[7]
- ^ Wright, Lawrence (2011). The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (1 ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-525-56436-2. OCLC 761224415.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^
Rohan Gunaratna (2002). Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror. Columbia University Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-231-12692-2.
Union of Mujahidin OR Union of Mujahideen.
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Tom Lansford (2003). A Bitter Harvest: US Foreign Policy and Afghanistan. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-3615-1.
Under pressure from the United States, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the main mujahideen parties joined together to form the Islamic Union of Mujahideen of Afghanistan in May 1985. The alliance was led by a general council which included Hekmatyr, Rabbani, and Abd-ur-Rabb-ur-Rasul Sayyaf, the leader of the Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan which was established and funded by the Saudis.
- ^ Collins, George W. (March–April 1986). "The War in Afghanistan". Air University Review. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
- ^ Hilali, A. Z. (2005). US-Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7546-4220-6.
- ^ "Refworld | Human Rights Watch World Report 1989 - Afghanistan".
- ^ Ruttig, Thomas. Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902-2006) (PDF). Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2009-03-27.