The United National Front was a coalition of various political parties in

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 bordere ...

. The group was a broad coalition of former and current strongmen, commanders from the anti-Soviet resistance, ex-Communist leaders, and various social and ethnic groups. Its leader was former

President of Afghanistan The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. On 15 August 2021, as th ...

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (Persian: ; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistani politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 (in exile from 1996 to 2001). Born in the Badakhshan Province, Ra ...

. Many of its members were formerly part of the similarly named United Islamic Front (Northern Alliance). Reports of when the group was founded vary. Stratfor reported the group was founded on April 3, 2006. Ron Synovitz reported on February 6, 2008 that the group was founded in 2007. The UNF wanted to secure unity in the divided country. It wanted to amend the 2003 constitution to allow political parties to stand in elections, to change the electoral system from a single non-transferable vote system to a party-list electoral system, and to hold direct elections for provincial governors. Members included Mustafa Zahir (grandson of former king

Mohammad Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...

), ex-defense minister

Mohammad Qasim Fahim Mohammad Qasim Fahim ( prs, محمد فهیم, also known as "Marshal Fahim"; 1957 – 9 March 2014) was a politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until his death. Betwee ...

, parliamentary speaker

Yunus Qanuni Younus Qanooni ( prs, یونس قانونی, born on 10 May 1957 in Panjshir Valley) is an Afghan politician who was Vice President of Afghanistan. An ethnic Tajik, Qanooni is the leader of the '' Afghanistan e Naween'' (New Afghanistan) politic ...

, Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud, former general

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; prs, عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: , Uzbek Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish- ...

, former Communist-era generals,

Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy Major General Sayed Muhammad Gulabzoi (born 1951) is an Afghan politician. An ethnic Pashtun from the Zadran tribe, Gulabzoi was born in Paktia Province. An Air Force mechanic by training, he studied at the Air Force college. As an air force offi ...

and Nur ul-Haq Olumi, and Hezb-Islami commanders, like Qazi Amin Waqad. The Front's exact size was unknown, but it claimed to be backed by 40% of Afghanistan's parliament. In February 2008, Synovitz reported that Uzbek members of the United National Front suggested that charges filed against their leader

could lead to civil war. Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated in late 2011 by a Taliban supposed "peace emissary" who detonated a bomb while embracing Rabbani. The United National Front as such is no longer active. Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim remains in an alliance with President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

. Meanwhile, in late 2011, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, and Abdul Rashid Dostum created the

National Front of Afghanistan The National Front of Afghanistan (NFA; fa, جبهه ملی افغانستان, Jabhe Melli; also Afghanistan National Front, ANF), or Jabh-e Melli, was established in late 2011 by Ahmad Zia Massoud, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq and Abdul Rashid Dost ...

as a reformation of the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

(Northern Alliance) to oppose a return of the Taliban to power and to demand reforms from the Karzai government.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

References

External links

The United National Front website
Defunct political party alliances in Afghanistan Political parties established in 2007 {{Afghanistan-party-stub