SUMMARY
The Forces of Amanullah Khan is an organised militia loyal to the Afghan warlord of the same name. The militia has been employed in battle with other non-state groups to support the political goals of Amanullah Khan in post-Taliban Afghanistan. His ambitions, and claims to prominence in Herat province, have brought him into non-state conflict with other warlords.
A veteran of the Afghan civil war, Amanullah Khan was a relatively prominent Afghan warlord in post-Taliban Afghanistan, albeit with a smaller following than strongmen such as Dostum and Ismail Khan. He is a native Afghan from the Shindand district of the western Herat province, and of Pashtun ethnicity; the ethnic group that demographically dominates Afghanistan and most of Herat province. One of his stated goals has been to fight for the inclusion of Pashtuns in the administrations of the western provinces of Afghanistan, but some analysts accuse him of mainly wanting to lay his hands on lucrative cross-border trading with Iran.
Amanullah Khan, himself a Pashtun, has been accused by his enemies of having links to the Pasthun-dominated Taliban; allegations that are yet to be substantiated in the post-Taliban context. Amanullah was allied with the Taliban before the fall of their government, but between 2001 and 2004 it appears that he was linked to the Karzai government’s intelligence service and was loosely employed by them to carry out specific missions against unruly warlords such as his long-standing rival Ismail Khan. Amanullah’s strongholds could be found in the Pashtun-dominated areas of Herat and Farah provinces, in Afghanistan’s west.
It is unclear how many fighters Amanullah Khan had at his disposal, but his forces had access both to small arms as well as artillery and tanks. It is probable that he had at least a few thousand fighters under his command.
Amanullah Khan died in 2006, when he and his son were killed in an ambush by fighters loyal to his rival Arbab Basir (whose father Amanullah Khan had killed), who was allied to Amanullah’s rival Ismail Khan.
The Forces of Amanullah Khan have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
