הברית הצפונית
NORTHERN ALLIANCE The Northern Alliance is the military wing of Afghanistan´s pre-Taliban government, which is still recognized by most countries and the United Nations. The alliance consists of different feuding ethnic groups, including Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara, in a predominantly Pashtun country. After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan ended, the alliance fighters turned on one another in factional warfare that reduced the capital of Kabul to rubble. The rise of the Taliban fundamentalists helped bring the alliance together again against a common enemy. The alliance now controls a small part of the country in a northeastern area that borders with Tajikistan. It is believed to have around 12,000 troops, supported by a limited number of Soviet-era tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships. Both Russia and Iran have promised to increase military supplies to the Afghan opposition. The United States has said it will offer aid to Taliban opponents in Afghanistan. מתוך האתר של ה-CNN
