The Northern Alliance

In December 2001, an interim Afghan government was created in Bonn Germany. Instead of holding the Northern Alliance accountable for terrorism and various heinous crimes against humanity, they were rewarded with a majority of the seats in the new government, including the ministries of defence, foreign affairs and internal security. So much for the war on terrorism! Here are some examples of human rights abuses committed by the Northern Alliance:

* February 11, 1993: Forces of Jamiat-i Islami and Ittihad-i Islami raided west Kabul, killing and "disappearing" ethnic Hazara civilians. They committed widespread rape. Estimates of those killed range from 70 to more than 100.

* March 1995: Jamiat-i Islami forces under Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud [who was mortally wounded on Sept. 9, 2001], were responsible for rape and looting after they captured a predominantly Hazara neighborhood of Kabul. The U.S. State Department's human rights report (1996) says "Massood's troops went on a rampage, systematically looting whole streets and raping women."

* January 5, 1997: Junbish planes dropped cluster munitions on residential areas of Kabul. Several civilians were killed and others wounded in the indiscriminate air raid, which also involved the use of conventional bombs.

* Late May 1997: Some 3,000 captured Taliban soldiers were summarily executed near Mazar-i Sharif by Junbish forces under the command of Gen. Abdul Malik Pahlawan. Some Taliban troops were taken to the desert and shot, others were thrown down wells and blown up with grenades.

* September 20-21, 1998: Rockets were fired at northern Kabul. One hit a crowded market killing between 76 and 180. The attacks were generally believed to have been carried out by the forces of Massoud. The Red Cross described the attacks as indiscriminate.

* Late 1999 - early 2000: Internally displaced persons who fled from villages in Sangcharak district recounted summary executions, burning of houses and widespread looting during the 4 months the area was held by the United Front (aka Northern Alliance). Several of the executions were reportedly carried out in front of the victims' families. 

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




Heroin Money Fuels Terror

In 1996, when the Taliban took over, Afghanistan supplied 57% of the world's opium. By 1999, the figure soared to nearly 80%. The Taliban used drugs to help finance their activities, including terrorism. In 2000, the Taliban effectively wiped out poppy cultivation. The Northern Alliance continued to depend on poppy production as a vast financial reservoir. According to the recent UN report, the only region where opium production increased last year was a province ruled by the Northern Alliance. 

Source: "Drugs in the Antiterrorism Campaign," Nov. 2, 2001. <http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/narcotics.cfm>