SUMMARY
Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was a Sunni Islamist, Afghan armed group and political party that splintered from Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan in 1979. The group, which was led by Mawlawi Yunus Khalis, operated as an armed group between 1979 and 1992 and as a political party between 1992 and 1996. As the splinter group retained the name of its predecessor organization, it is usually differentiated from the mother organization by identifying the name of the group leader. Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was one of the seven main insurgency groups based in Peshawar, Pakistan, known as the Peshawar Seven. Although Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction continued to exist, after 1996, the group was severely weakened due to further splintering and the loss of key members.
Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was ideologically similar to Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan and opposed communism and non-Islamic foreign influences on Afghanistan. However, it splintered from Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, due to differences of opinion between Khalis and Hekmatyar; Khalis accused Hekmatyar of avoiding combat and he prioritized cooperation with a broad range of Islamist armed opposition groups over limiting cooperation to those with a greater level of Islamic radicalization. Accordingly, during its conflict against the communist Government of Afghanistan in the 1980s, the Khalis faction was recognized for being more military effective than Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan. After the fall of the communist Government of Afghanistan in 1992, Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction transitioned into a political party to become part of the mujahideen-coalition government that came to power. The government was fragmented so Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction adopted a neutral position and quickly withdrew to Nangahar province when fighting amongst the other mujahideen groups broke out again. Nonetheless, Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction remained part of the government and its leaders were dominant within the Nangahar Shura Council until the Taleban overthrew the Mujahideen government regime in 1996.
The base of Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was in Peshawar, Pakistan but support for the group was greatest in the eastern Afghani province of Nangahar, which was strategically located along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Other locations of support were in the provinces of Kunar, Wardak, Kandahar, Paktia, Khost, some areas in northern Afghanistan and the capital, Kabul. Membership of Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was largely drawn from Pashtun tribes and clans, especially the Ghilzai, Khungiani, Jabbarkhel and Jadran. Many were either graduates of religious or government schools, or mullahs. Wider support was gained through followers who supported Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction as a result of their loyalties to local religious or tribal leaders, rather than ideology. Some army deserters also joined the group.
Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was a small group comprised of military guerilla units. In 1981, the Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction had 1000 troops but this increased to 3000 by 1983; it also had an estimated 15 000 to 20 000 supporters, who could take up arms. However, Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction lost many members between 1994 and 1996 to the Taleban, which was notably founded by previous Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction member, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
Mawlawi Yunus Khalis was the founder and leader of Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction. He was a mullah, who had received a traditional educational background in Nangarhar. In addition to Khalis’ leadership, several commanders were vital to the effectiveness of the group; especially Abdul Haq, who was commander in Nangahar province and Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was commander in Paktia province. After the mujahideen forces took control of the Government of Afghanistan in 1992, Khalis and Haq were dominant leaders of the Nangahar shura (council) until the government was taken over by the Taleban in 1996 (see Government of Afghanistan – Taleban). Following this, Jalaluddin Haqqani defected from Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction to join the Taleban.
The mujahideen groups made several attempts to unite in an alliance during this time period, both in order to increase their combat strength but also because external donors, primarily the Government of United States of America, preferred to support one cohesive organization rather than numerous dispersed groups. This included an attempted but unsuccessful alliance between three moderate and three fundamentalist groups, which included the Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction, in 1980 under the title “Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Afghanistan”. Simultaneously, Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction was part of the “Peshawar Seven”; an informal alliance between the seven main Islamist groups based in Peshawar. The other Peshawar Seven members were: Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan, Mahaz-i Milli-yi Islami-yi Afghanistan, Jabha-yi Nijat-i Milli-yi Afghanistan, Harakat-i Inqilab-i Islami-yi Afghanistan, Jam’iyyat-i Islami-yi Afghanistan and Ittihad-i Islami Bara-yi Azadi-yi Afghanistan. This coalition was then formalized under the name “Islamic Unity of the Afghan Mujahideen” in 1985 (although it was still commonly referred to as the Peshawar Seven). The coalition was active until 1992, when the mujahideen groups captured the government office and took over as Government of Afghanistan. External funding, despite tension between the individual group leaders, led to the coalition retaining a loose but longer-lasting alliance.
The Sunni mujahideen, including Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction, received substantial amounts of support in the form of arms, training, advisors, logistics and financial assistance from several governments. These included the governments of the United States of America, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Egypt (click Read More to see more information on secondary support). Hizb-i Islami-yi Afghanistan - Khalis faction received a 13-15% share of the funding provided for by the Government of Pakistan for the Sunni mujahideen groups.
