Warlord's Profile

• Ismayel Khan of Herat
• Haji Qadir of Jalal Abad

 Mullah Mohammad Omar  
Little is known of Mullah Mohammad Omar, 32, who launched the Taleban 
movement of religious students in 1994. Just two years later, on 
September 27, the Taleban conquered the capital Kabul to crown a drive 
that swept aside most warring factions. 

Omar was born in the central province of Uruzgan and studied in 
several Islamic madrassahs, or schools, before joining the Jihad 
(holy) war against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. 

He rose to deputy chief commander in the guerrilla party 
Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami of Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi during the war, 
in which he was wounded and lost one eye. 

In April 1996, an assembly of about 1,000 Moslem clergymen chose him 
as Islamic ``Amir-ul-Momineen'' (commander of the faithful), 
denouncing President Burhanuddin Rabbani as unfit to lead an Islamic 
nation. 

Omar, whose headquarters is in the southern town of Kandahar, is 
assisted by a council of religious scholars. 

Burhanuddin Rabbani  
The ousted Afghan president leads the Jamiat-i-Islami party, which 
was probably the largest of the factions which fought against Soviet 
occupation. 

An ethnic Tajik from the mountainous northeastern province of 
Badakhshan and a former professor of Islamic law at Kabul university, 
he became president in late 1992 for an interim period but extended 
his term and antagonised most other parties. 

 
Ahmad Shah Masood ** For Detailed Biography click  HERE **   
A former defence minister and Rabbani's top military commander, known 
as the ``Lion of Panjsher'' for his exploits against Soviet forces from 
his Panjsher Valley home. 

He played a key role in the guerrilla takeover in April 1992 by moving 
his forces into Kabul after striking an alliance with former 
pro-government commander General Abdul Rashid Dostum. 

Masood won a worldwide reputation as the most effective Afghan 
guerrilla commander. He was the main strength behind Rabbani's 
government but retreated to Panjsher as Kabul fell. 

General Abdul Rashid Dostum 
he formerly pro-communist Uzbek chief played a key role in the collapse 
of the communist government in 1992 by switching sides. He leads the 
Jumbish-i-Milli movement based in northern Afghanistan. 

With his own army and a small air force, he controls at least six 
northern provinces. He joined then prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 
in January 1994 in an unsuccessful bid to topple Rabbani, who was 
backed by Masood's forces. 

He remained neutral in the fighting between the Taleban and the Kabul 
government, though separately he opposed Rabbani. In September, he 
struck an informal truce with Rabbani to allow transport from Kabul to 
move north via the Salang Tunnel. 

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ** For Detailed Biography click  HERE **   
The 45-year-old ousted prime minister leads the Hezb-i-Islami 
(Hekmatyar), once the most disciplined of the guerrilla groups that 
fought against Soviet occupation. 

A dynamic and outspoken radical from the northern province of Kunduz, 
Hekmatyar became involved in Islamic politics at Kabul University's 
engineering faculty in 1968. He was jailed for 18 months under then 
king Zahir Shah and then fought against President Mohammad Daoud's 
republican government before fleeing into exile in Pakistan in 1974. 

Hekmatyar was prime minister from March 1993 until January 1994, when 
he allied himself with Dostum in the failed coup to oust Rabbani. He 
was appointed to the same position last June under a peace pact with 
Rabbani that was opposed by Dostum. 

Younus Khalis 
The 74-year-old ``Maulvi'' (religious scholar) and Pashtu poet from the 
eastern province of Nangharhar leads his own Hezb-i-Islami (Khalis) 
faction which he formed after fleeing to Pakistan in 1975 and splitting 
with Hekmatyar. 

Sporting a distinctive beard dyed orange with henna, he is a hardliner 
and last week declared support for the Taleban. 

Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf 
The former professor of Islamic law at Kabul University leads Ittehad- 
i-Islami and is a Rabbani ally. 

Sayyaf, a fluent Arabic speaker known for his close contacts with 
Saudi Arabia during the war against the Soviet forces, worked for the 
Islamic movement under Zahir Shah and Daoud. He was arrested during 
the communist takeover of 1978 despite being a relative of Hafizullah 
Amin, the communist party leader killed during the Soviet intervention 
next year. 

Most analysts consider Ittehad one of the weaker parties, because of 
its dependence on aid from Saudi Arabia. 

Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi 
The elderly ``Maulvi'' and former member of parliament heads Harakat-i- 
Inqilab-i-Islami. It became the largest faction in the first year of the 
Soviet intervention because of his influence among conservative clergy. 
He took no sides between Rabbani and his opponents. 

Sibghatullah Mojadidi 
The 70-year-old scion of one of Afghanistan's leading religio-aristocratic 
families leads the Jabha-i-Nijat-i-Milli. He was the first interim Islamic 
president of Afghanistan for six months after the guerrillas seized power 
from the collapsed communist government in April 1992. His family has 
close ties with ex-king Zahir Shah and has campaigned for his return. 

Syed Ahmad Gailani 
The most Westernised of the Afghan party leaders heads Mahaz-i-Milli-i- 
Islami and has played a leading role in trying to mobilise support for a 
return of Zahir Shah. 

He also belongs to one of Afghanistan's aristocratic families and has 
been neutral in the current factional fighting. 

Karim Khalili: Leads the the minority Shi'ite Hezb-i-Wahdat faction 
based in the central province of Bamiyan.