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]
Alliance formation
Though the 2 primary scholars on this issue agree that the coalition was founded, under pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, as a coalition of groups fighting against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, there are disparate claims about when the coalition was formed, and who was responsible for funding it. According to Tom Lansford, the author of A Bitter Harvest: US Foreign Policy and Afghanistan, the group was formed in 1985 and financed by Saudis. However, Vijay Prashad, Director of the International Studies Program at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, asserts that the foundation occurred earlier, in 1981, and specifically cites Osama bin Laden as one of the primary Saudi financiers.
Members of the alliance
There were seven members of the Mujahedeen Alliance of Afghanistan, a predominantly Sunni Islamic union, with one Sufi order organization member. It consisted of:
^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. ISBN978-0-7546-4220-6.