The Sacrifice Front, more commonly known as Fidai Mahaz (), is a Taliban splinter group and faction in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. It is led by Mullah Najibullah, also known as Omar Khitab, a former Taliban commander.

History

Foundation

Fidai Mahaz was formed by ex-Taliban members and former members of the Mullah Dadullah Front. They had grown disillusioned with the leadership of the Taliban under Mullah

Akhtar Mansour Akhtar Mohammad Mansour (1960s21 May 2016) was the second supreme leader of the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. Succeeding the founding leader, Mullah Omar, he was the supreme leader from July 2015 to May ...

over peace talks with the

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

government, opening a political office in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

and approaching

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

for support. The group's leader, Mullah Najibullah, stated that the group's aims were simple: Cancelling the peace process between the insurgents and the Afghan government, and continuing to fight the government in Kabul and the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

forces until they have left Afghanistan.

War in Afghanistan

Sources within Afghan intelligence and Taliban figures have stated that Fidai Mahaz was behind the failed suicide attack on the Indian Consulate in the eastern town of Jalalabad in early 2013. On 11 March 2014, Fidai Mahaz claimed responsibility for the killing of British-Swedish reporter

Nils Horner Nils Horner (5 December 1962 – 11 March 2014) was a Swedish Radio journalist. Horner was the chief correspondent for Sveriges Radio's Asia division and had covered multiple stories surrounding the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), as well ...

. The group's spokesman, Qari Hamza, accused him of being "a spy of

Mi6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

" in an English-language statement.

Death of Mullah Omar

Fidai Mahaz claimed Taliban founder and former leader Mullah Mohammed Omar did not die of natural causes but was instead assassinated in a coup led by Mullah Akhtar Mansour and Mullah Gul Agha. The Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, brother of former senior commander Mullah Dadullah, also claimed that Omar had been assassinated. Mullah Najibullah, claimed that due to Omar's kidney disease, he needed medicine. According to Najibullah, Mansour poisoned the medicine, damaging Omar's liver and causing him to grow weaker. When Omar summoned Mansour and other members of Omar's inner circle to hear his will, they discovered that Mansour was not to assume leadership of the Taliban. It was due to Mansour allegedly orchestrating "dishonourable deals". When Mansour pressed Omar to name him as his successor, Omar refused. Mansour then shot and killed Omar. Najibullah claimed Omar died at a southern Afghanistan hide-out in

Zabul Province Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Za ...

in the afternoon on 23 April 2013.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official site
Groups affiliated with the Taliban Rebel groups in Afghanistan