Afghan rebel flags

It has been suggested that this article be merged into List of Afghan flags. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2023.

Throughout the history of Afghanistan, there have been many flags used by rebel groups in Afghanistan's various conflicts. This is a list of the Afghan rebel flags flown by various groups throughout the country's history.^[1]

Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)

Rebel flags in the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1916–1934	Basmachi movement	The Basmachi movement was a rebel group in the Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and Kingdom of Afghanistan. They existed in cooperation with the Saqqawists during the Afghan Civil War.[2]
	1924–1931	Saqqawists	The Saqqawists were an armed Islamic conservative movement in Afghanistan from 1924 to 1931. They attempted to establish the Emirate of Afghanistan (1929).[3]
	1929	Kingdom of Afghanistan	Following the Saqqawists forming the Emirate of Afghanistan (1929), Ali Ahmad Khan started a rebellion and overthrew the emirate. This then established the Kingdom of Afghanistan.[3]

1973 Afghan coup d'état

Rebel flags in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1973–1974	Republic of Afghanistan	In 1973, there was a coup d'état in the Kingdom of Afghanistan that overthrew the king and established a republic.[4]

Saur Revolution

Rebel flags in the Saur Revolution

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1965–1992	People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan	In 1978, there was a communist revolution in the Republic of Afghanistan led by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The revolution resulted in the creation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.[5]

1979 Herat uprising

Rebel flags in the 1979 Herat Uprising

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1979	Hazaras	Flag says "God is Great" (الله أكبر) on a green background.

Soviet–Afghan War

Rebel flags in the Soviet–Afghan War

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1973–present	Afghanistan Liberation Organization	Maoist factions in the Soviet–Afghan War under the Afghanistan Liberation Organization (ALO) used the ALO flag.[6]
	1979–1992	Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen	The jihadist flag was used by many factions in the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen and is still used by Al-Qaeda to this day.[7]
	1987–1989	Tehran Eight	The Tehran Eight was an Iran-backed Shia faction in the Soviet–Afghan War. The flag of Hezbollah was used by several factions.[8]

Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

Rebel flags in the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1989–1992	Afghan mujahideen	Following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992) began with the Afghan mujahideen continuing to fight the Republic of Afghanistan. This is the same jihadist flag as used by the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen and Al-Qaeda.[7]

Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)

Rebel flags in the Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1975–present	Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin	After the fall of the PDPA's rule in Afghanistan, the civil war continued with some Islamist group splitting off and continuing to fight against the Islamic State of Afghanistan established by the main Afghan mujahideen.[9]
	1988–present	Al-Qaeda	Osama bin Laden, following the fall of the Republic of Afghanistan, would split from the Afghan mujahideen and establish a new group called Al-Qaeda.[10]
	1989–present	Hezbe Wahdat	Hezbe Wahdat split off from the Afghan mujahideen as the successor of the Tehran Eight.[9]
	1992–present	National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan	The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan split off from the Afghan mujahideen to protect Uzbek and Turkmen interests.[11]
	1994–1997	Taliban	The Taliban was formed in 1994 and originally used a plain white flag. They seized almost total control of the country by 1996.[12]

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

Rebel flags in the Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1988–present	Turkistan Islamic Party	Originally a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization based in Western China; in 1998 the group's headquarters were moved to Kabul, in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where members of the group fought against the Northern Alliance.
	1996–2001	Northern Alliance	Following the Taliban's establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996, forces loyal to the interim Islamic State of Afghanistan fled to the far north regions of Afghanistan and banded together to form the Northern Alliance.[13]
	1997–present	Taliban	During the Afghan Civil War (1996–2001), the Taliban government (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) wasn't internationally recognized. Because of this, it was regarded as a rebellion by some.
	1997–2001	Taliban	Variant flag flown by the Taliban during their rule in Afghanistan.
	1998–2015	Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan	An Uzbek Islamic extremist organization that the Taliban allowed to operate and occupy land within Afghanistan.

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Rebel flags in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	1988–present	Turkistan Islamic Party	The party continued to maintain a presence within Afghanistan following the United States invasion of Afghanistan, allying with the Taliban.
	1988–present	Al-Qaeda	Al-Qaeda, under Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the September 11 attacks. They used the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as a base to hide during the attacks. Because of this, the United States invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda, being an ally of the Taliban, would continue to aid their insurgency.[14]
	1997–present	Taliban	Following the September 11 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance was put in power of the new Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Taliban continued to launch an insurgency in the country until August 15, 2021.[15]
	2012–present	Mullah Dadullah Front	A Taliban splinter group that started claiming responsibility bombings and assassinations in 2012.[16][17]
	2013–present	Fidai Mahaz	A Taliban splinter group under the leadership of Mullah Najibullah.[18]
	2015–2021	High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate	A Taliban splinter group under the leadership of Muhammad Rasul.[19]
	2015–present	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province	Starting in 2015, the terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant established their "Khorasan Province" in Afghanistan. They began to wage an insurgency against both the Taliban and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan beginning the Taliban–ISIL conflict in Afghanistan as a part of the greater war.[20]
	2016–present	Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (splinter faction)	IMU leader Usman Ghazi declared the group's support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in September 2014,[21] but in June 2016, a new faction of the IMU announced itself, denouncing ISIL and swearing its loyalty to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.[22]

Rebel groups in Afghanistan (2021–present)

Flag	Years of use	Rebel group	Notes
	2015–present	Islamic State – Khorasan Province	During the Panjshir conflict, the Islamic State–Taliban conflict resumed with several attacks on 26 August, 6 September, 8 September, and 18 September 2021.[23][24][25][26]
	2021–present	Panjshir resistance	Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the remnants of the Afghan National Army and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan fled to the Panjshir Province to form the Panjshir resistance and continue fighting the revived Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.[27][28]
	2021–present	Panjshir resistance	Flag of the Islamic State of Afghanistan flown by the Panjshir resistance.[29]
	2021–present	Panjshir resistance	Variant Islamic Republic flag flown by the Panjshir resistance.
	2021–present	Panjshir resistance, Afghanistan Islamic National & Liberation Movement, Watan Dost Front, National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, Khost Resistance Front, National Azadegan Front, Afghanistan Freedom Front, Andarab Resistance Front,  Freedom Corps Front , West Nuristan Liberation Front	Flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan flown by the Panjshir resistance.[30][31] and other "Anti-Taliban Groups"[32][33]
	2021- Present	Freedom and Democracy Front, Hazaristan Resistance Front[33]	The front announced its existence in October 2021. It operates mainly in the provinces of Maidan Wardak and Ghazni. It is composed exclusively of Hazaras, both ex-military and civilians. A spokesman for the front announced in a video released in October that the group's goal is to fight the Taliban and the ISKP throughout Hazarajat.[33]
	2021–Present	Southern Turkistan Armed Independent Operation front/ 'Dzhabhat Turkestan Janubi'[34]	On 29 June, a group of fighters announced the formation of the “Southern Turkestan Front” in a one-minute video circulated on the internet and particularly on Telegram. The commander of the group explains in the video that they will fight the Taliban and protect the rights of the Turkic peoples. The group is composed of Uyghurs, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Turkic people and claims to operate in the Balkh province.[33]

See also

• List of Afghan flags
• Flag of Afghanistan
• War in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)

References