Abdul Ali Mazari, the founder of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan and the first political leader of the Hazaras, who worked tirelessly to secure the Hazara people's place in Afghanistan’s political structure and to have Shia Islam officially recognized, disappeared 29 years ago on March 13, 1995, during the Taliban's assault on Kabul. A day later, Wahdat Party leaders were informed that Mazari and several of his companions had been captured by the Taliban. After torturing Abdul Ali Mazari, the Taliban threw his body from a helicopter in Ghazni. Residents of Ghazni carried his body and the bodies of his companions on foot through snow and freezing temperatures to Bamyan. Mazari's and Seyed Ali Alavi’s bodies were transferred from Bamyan to Mazar-e-Sharif, where they were buried on March 27, 1995, in the presence of thousands of people. At the time, Bamyan, Mazar-e-Sharif, and several other cities were still under the control of anti-Taliban parties, and the Wahdat Party held sway over predominantly Hazara and Shia regions. In 1998, after the fall of Mazar-e-Sharif to the Taliban, Mazari's tomb was mined and destroyed by the group.
Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed by the Taliban at the age of 47, was born in the Charkent district of Balkh province. He expanded armed resistance against Afghanistan’s communist governments from Shulgara district to other Hazara-majority regions and successfully united the scattered Shia and Hazara groups into a new party called the "Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan."
My interview with Zainab Mazari, the only child of Abdul Ali Mazari, the founder of the Wahdat Party
Mazari was known for his simple lifestyle. He left behind only one daughter, Zainab Mazari, who has yet to visit her father’s grave. Of her 32 years, she has spent 22 years in Iran and eight years in Sweden. Abdul Ali Mazari married his brother Sultan Ali’s widow when he was 38. Zainab Mazari remembers her father only through photos and videos, as the last time he hugged her in Qom, Iran, before departing for Afghanistan, she was just three years old. Reflecting on when she realized her father had died, Zainab says: “One day, I saw my father’s picture on television in Qom. The atmosphere at home was tense, and as the TV was talking about my father’s death, I ran with childish steps and kissed the screen.”
Zainab Mazari, who has lived in isolation unlike her father and has never visited Afghanistan, said in an exclusive interview with Independent Persian that even after 29 years since her father’s death in Taliban captivity, she still doesn’t know how he fell into their trap or the conditions under which he died. After Abdul Ali Mazari’s death, the Taliban released two photos of him, showing Mazari with his hands and feet bound while Taliban members smiled.
There are various accounts among Abdul Ali Mazari’s close associates about his capture and death. One version is that, as the siege of western Kabul tightened, Mazari set out for Charasiab to negotiate with the Taliban, who were advancing on the area. However, the Taliban broke their promise and arrested and killed him. In another account, recently shared by Mohammad Mohaqiq, a close ally of Mazari and the current leader of the Wahdat Party, the idea of negotiations between Mazari and the Taliban is dismissed. In late March of last year, Mohaqiq wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter): “The truth is that the martyred leader [Mazari] resisted to the last possible moment. As he had promised his people, ‘I will stay with you until my blood is shed,’ he remained with them. When all of the Wahdat Party’s resources were depleted, he informed me in the final days to coordinate with General Dostum, and be prepared to send two helicopters if needed, so that I could be transferred to Bamyan, or I would escape Kabul and continue the resistance from Bamyan. However, the situation became dire, and all communications were cut off. It later became known that in the final moments, all forces dispersed, and Mazari, accompanied only by his aide Seyed Ali Alavi, went to the Abbas Qoli area in southwest Kabul. His armored vehicle broke down, and they were left stranded. He disguised himself and set out to escape, but was identified and captured by enemy spies on his way to Bamyan through Ghazni.”
Mohammad Mohaqiq, who was one of Mazari’s closest commanders and took over one faction of the Wahdat Party after his death, rejects other accounts of the event. Zainab Mazari, while stating that there is “no clear answer,” neither confirms nor denies the various accounts of how her father was captured and killed. She adds that after the first Taliban regime collapsed, Wahdat Party leaders should have formed a truth commission to clarify the circumstances surrounding Mazari’s capture and death.
What happened to Abdul Ali Mazari’s family after his death?
Unlike many of Afghanistan’s political leaders whose children held government positions and amassed significant wealth during the 20 years of the republic, Zainab Mazari and Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud—both of whose fathers were killed by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda—did not hold any government positions and avoided political activity until the Taliban’s return to power. Ahmad Massoud founded the National Resistance Front just before the fall of the republic, while Zainab Mazari only appeared at memorials for her father and gave speeches to his supporters. However, she says, after living in isolation for many years, “I have come forward at the request of the people to serve as a unifying figure.”
Watch the complete interview with Zainab Mazari here
Abdul Ali Mazari’s family never returned to Afghanistan after his death, continuing their difficult life as migrants in Qom, Iran. Unlike other political leaders who amassed wealth and power, Mazari’s family lived in a modest home, surviving on hard labor. Zainab Mazari recalls, “My grandmother and mother, both during my father’s life and after his martyrdom, would weave loofahs, and the income from that work sustained our family.”
By 1994, Abdul Ali Mazari was the only surviving male member of his extended family. His father, brothers, cousins, and maternal uncles had all been killed in the war. According to Zainab, her father spent little time with his family as he was mostly occupied with armed and political struggles inside Afghanistan. Zainab added that while alive, even when he led one of Afghanistan’s most powerful parties, her father had advised them to work for their living and not to rely on anyone else. Abdul Ali Mazari’s wife passed away in 2004, and his mother died in 2016 in Qom. Reflecting on her family’s life after her father’s death, Zainab says, “My grandmother and mother were the only ones who continued my father’s path and refused to be corrupted.”
Many of Afghanistan’s political leaders are known for the legacies they left to their children, but Abdul Ali Mazari left behind only a tomb on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif and a daughter who has never visited Afghanistan. The Hazaras and Shia of Afghanistan refer to him as “Baba,” meaning father or grandfather, and honor him as the reviver of Hazara political identity—a man who stayed true to his commitment and never abandoned his people, even in his final moments.
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