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Mujahideen and anti-Taliban groups 1980's-2001 (Afghanistan)

See also:

Afghanistan 1992-1996 Flag (used 1996-2001 by the Northern Alliance)
Afghanistan 1996-2001 (Taliban regime)
Afghanistan

Introduction

Many people in northern Afghanistan (ethnic Uzbeks, Tadjiks) did not support the Taliban. In 1991 general-colonel Abdul Rashid Dostum created an anti-Taliban division. In 1992 he and Ahmad-shah Massood created the government of North Afghanistan and the People's Muslim Movement of Afghanistan. (...)
Victor Lomantsov, 5 April 2001

I think that black-red-green flags were used by different factions of today's Northern Alliance as their party flags. Thus they were not flags of North Afghanistan — which, naturally, does not exist as a political unit. After re-unification of all anti-Taleban parties, they became to (re)use the national flag (green-white-black).
Jan Zrzavy, 9 October 2001

I agree with Jan Zrzavy's statement, that Dostum's North Afghanistan flag was most probably only the flag of one of the main factions of the Northern Alliance, the Uzbeks under Dostum. (...) The other main faction of the Northern Alliance (the Tadjiks) was headed by Ahmed Shah Massood. We have seen the use of the green-white-black national flag of 1992 as their flag (with variations, though). As the internationally recognized government (until 22 December 2001 at least) was headed by Burhanuddin Rabbani, another Tadjik, it is not surprising that the Tadjik faction used this flag.

So most probably there had been at least two flags used by the Northern Alliance, at least for some time. If they agreed on a common flag at a later date, is in my opinion unclear. It is also unclear, if other factions of the Northern Alliance (e.g. the Hazara) used their own flags.
Marcus Schmöger, 19 December 2001

Journalist Christophe de Pontilly, who is authoritative on Afghan matters and was a close friend of the late Commandant Massood, explained on France-Inter, 14 October 2002, that the name Northern Alliance was absolutely erroneous and was never coined by Massood. The real name of Massood's movement was United National Front for the Salute of Afghanistan. Northern Alliance is particularly unsuitable since Massood's movement was not restricted to the north of the country. Moreover, the often claimed opposition between Massood in the north and the Talibans in the south is an oversimplification of the situation.
Ivan Sache, 14 October 2002

Unidentified Flag

image by Steve Stringfellow

I saw this flag flying (attached) on the front of a warlord truck in Afghanistan on CBS news 9 August 2002.
Steve Stringfellow, 12 August 2002