National Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan ( prs, حزب وحدت ملی اسلامی افغانستان) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

led by

Ustad Muhammad Akbari Ustad Muhammad Akbari ( prs, استاد محمد اکبری) known as Ustad Akbari, is a former Hazara jihadist commander in Afghanistan, who has held various political affiliations during periods of conflict in Afghanistan. He was the represent ...

. Akbari broke away from Hezbe Wahdat when he struck an agreement with the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, offering him a degree of control in Hazara areas.

Foundation

The party emerged in the early 1990s out of a split in the Hezbe Wahdat leadership between

Muhammad Akbari Ustad Muhammad Akbari ( prs, استاد محمد اکبری) known as Ustad Akbari, is a former Hazaras, Hazara Afghan mujahideen, jihadist commander in Afghanistan, who has held various political affiliations during periods of conflict in Afghan ...

and

Abdul Ali Mazari ) , image = Abdul Ali Mazari.jpeg , caption = , office1 = Leader of Hezbe Wahdat , primeminister1= , term_start1 = 1989 , term_end1 = 13 March 1995 , predecessor1 = , successor1 = , office2 = , pri ...

. Tensions between Akbari and Mazari dated back to the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

, when Akbari and Mazari had led competing factions within the overarching

Tehran Eight The Tehran EightRuttig, T. ''Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902–2006)''. "The first current was mainly represented in the 1980s by the Sunni Mujahedin tanzim based i ...

Shiite alliance. Akbari had led the

Revolutionary Guards The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

, whilst Mazari had led the Nasr Organization. Both parties each had approximately 1,500 fighters, although Nasr had a larger support base; 4,000 compared to Akbari's 2,000. Later, in 1989, Akbari and Mazari agreed to merge their respective parties into Hezbe Wahdat, alongside the other members of the Tehran Eight. Tensions between the various components of Hezbe Wahdat re-emerged at the parties September 1994 leadership election. Both Akbari and Mazari wished to hold the election in their own respective power bases; Hazarjat for Akbari and Kabul for Mazari. Mazari ultimately won out, and the election was held in Kabul, and saw Mazari elected leader with 43 votes in comparison to the 33 cast in favour of Akbari. The results saw Mazari elected as Secretary General whilst Akbari took over as Chairperson of Hezbe Wahdat's Central Committee. In his new position Mazari advocated in favour of maintaining Hezbe Wahdat's alliance with Hizbi-Islami and Junbish-i-Milli. In contrast Akbari, distressed at high Hazara casualties in the ongoing Battle of Kabul, advocated forming a new alliance with

Jamiat-e Islami Jamayat-E-Islami (also rendered as Jamiat-e-Islami and Jamiati Islami; fa, جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان, lit=Islamic Society), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Tajik political party in Afghanistan. It was origin ...

. Immediately following Akbari was accused of plotting a coup, and was rebuffed by Mazari. Within weeks of the election Akbari was running his own group, which allied with Jamiat-e Islami.

Ideology

Akbari supported the

Shia Family Law The Shia Personal Status Law, also known as the Shia Family Law, is a law of Afghanistan that was approved in February 2009 with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's signature. A portion of the law pertaining to sexual relations between husband and wi ...

, which has been accused of legalizing

spousal rape Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and need not involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic vi ...

References

{{Political parties in Afghanistan Political parties established in 1994 Shia Islamic political parties in Afghanistan Afghan nationalism Political parties of minorities Conservatism in Asia Political parties in Afghanistan

Foundation

Ideology

See also

References