| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Northern Alliance is not only non-Pashtuns |
| 2001-10-11 |
Quite contrary to the view held by Pakistani military, the United Front is not an entirely non-Pashtun force of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turkmans, battling the latter’s domination of Afghanistan. There are several Pashtun leaders and field commanders who not only have never supported the Taliban but also have lent their active contribution in the war against them. The names of Haji Sher Alam , Haji Abdul Qadeer (the former governor of Jalal Abad), Hazrat Ali, Aref Khan Commander Almas and many others are too familiar but a few to mention in this regard. These personalities command wide respect among the Pashtun minority and have thousands of armed Pashtun soldiers fighting on the frontlines along side others, against the Taliban. Equally true is the fact that the Taliban is not a purely Pashtun force. There are well over 20000 foreigners coming from a myriad of several different nationalities including Arabs, Central Asians, Chinese Uigurs, Pakistanis (civilian and military) and South East Asians, who constitute approximately more than forty percent of the Taliban’s fighting force in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |