SUMMARY
AFF (Afghanistan Freedom Front) was an Afghan rebel group involved in the conflict against the second Taleban regime in the 2020s. Alternative names include National Liberation Front, National Freedom Front, Afghanistan Liberation Front, and Azadi Front. The Taleban took power in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, following the withdrawal of the international forces that had supported the previous government. When Kabul fell, remnants of the Afghan security forces gathered in traditional opposition strongholds of the Panjshir valley, and surrounding valleys of Baghlan and Parwan provinces. Ahmad Massoud, son of the anti-Soviet and anti-Taleban mujahideen Ahmad Shah Massoud, had since 2019 organized a political resistance movement in Afghanistan, following his father’s example. The movement built on the Northern Alliance, also known as United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA), which was the main anti-Taleban force during the first Taleban regime in the late 1990s.
During the months leading up to the Taleban takeover in 2021, political leaders and military commanders started to organize loosely as an anti-Taleban force, and when the Taleban entered Kabul, several commanders fled to the Panjshir valley, joining Massoud’s nascent resistance movement. On 17 August 2021, two days after the fall of Kabul, ousted Vice President Amrullah Saleh cited the constitution and claimed that he was the legitimate caretaker President of Afghanistan. Together with Ahmad Massoud, he launched the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) from Panjshir. In he following months, several other small resistance groups announced their formation, including AFF on 11 March 2022. Although many of the groups were loosely tied to NRF, and at times fought together with the group, AFF has claimed to be a separate, independent group. At its formation, the group claimed to fight for the 'freedom of the country from the occupation and to end the oppressive, illegitimate and tyrannical rule of the Taliban'.
Both the NRF leadership and the alleged leader of AFF, Mohammad Yasin Zia, are ethnic Tajiks, Afghanistan’s second largest ethnic group. The Taleban movement, on the other hand, stemmed from the Pashtun ethnic group. There was an element of inter-ethnic tension between the two, although there were fighters from different ethnic groups on both sides. AFF, to a larger extent than NRF, has attracted Pashtuns and fighters from other ethnic groups, not being as clearly defined by the Tajik identity. AFF’s ideology was one of promoting human rights, women’s rights, and gender equality.
The anti-Taleban resistance in general has mainly been concentrated to Panjsher, Baghlan, and other areas north of Kabul. AFF has also claimed attacks in several other areas including Parwan, Takhar, Kabul, and Kandahar.
General Mohammad Yasin Zia, a former defense minister, was the alleged leader and founder of AFF, although very few details about the group's leadership were available. Most members of the group were former members of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
It is unclear how many troops AFF controlled, and their resources were likely limited. Soldiers and police of the ousted regime that joined AFF likely brought with themselves some weapons, vehicles, and ammunition from the ANDSF.
Tajikistan has supported the Tajik resistance movements, including NRF, by giving its leaders a safe haven, and allegedly providing NRF with food and resources in the Panjshir valley. It is unclear how much AFF has been supported by Tajikistan.
