The Octet Party (احزاب هشتگانه) was a Shia Afghan Mujahideen political union, mainly composed of ethnic Afghan Hazaras, during the Soviet–Afghan War.Ruttig, T. Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902–2006). "The first current was mainly represented in the 1980s by the Sunni Mujahedin tanzim based in Pakistan, the ‘Peshawar Seven’, and the Shia Mujahedin groups based in Iran, the ‘Tehran Eight’. The second current mainly consisted of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), with its two major factions Khalq and Parcham, and the ‘Maoist’ groups that emerged from the demokratik-e newin, or ‘new democracy’, commonly referred to as shola’i. For the third current, there are mainly Afghan Millat with at least three different factions on the Pashtun(ist) side and Settam-e Melli on the Tajik side, with some Uzbek and Turkmen elements, and currently Sazman-e Inqilabi-ye Zahmatkashan-e Afghanistan (SAZA), or ‘Revolutionary Organisation of Afghanistan’s Toilers’ and the new Hezb-e Kangara-ye Melli, or ‘National Congress Party’. There is no current Hazara equivalent to them since Hezb-e Wahdat has absorbed the Hazara demand for religious, political and judicial equality." They were supported were based in Iran and known as "Ahzaab Hashtganah" (the octet party).
The Octet Party were predominantly active in the Hazarajat region in central Afghanistan, and fought against the PDPA government and the supporting Soviet troops. It formed the second largest resistance force in the war, after the main Afghan mujahideen (also called the "Peshawar Seven"), which was a Sunni alliance.
The Octet Party was formed in December 1987 with the direct participation of the Iranian state, after years of inter-factional struggle in the Hazarajat. In 1989, they were united into one party, Hezb-e Wahdat, with the exception of Hezbollah Afghanistan.
The Eight Factions The following Afghan organizations composed the Octet Party, all headquartered in Iran: GroupYear FoundedLeadersHezbollah AfghanistanHA1980 Qari Ahmad Ali GhordarwaziIslamic Victory Organization of AfghanistanAl-Nasr1980 Muhammad Hussein Sadiqi Abdul Ali Mazari Shaykh Shafak.IRGAC1982 Sheikh Akbari Mohsen RezaiIslamic Movement of AfghanistanIDA1978 Muhammad Asif Muhsini Shaykh Sadeq HashemiRevolutionary Council of Islamic Unity of AfghanistanShura1979 Sayeed Ali Beheshti Sayeed DjagranDRI1980 Nasrullah MansurOBI1980 Mosbah SadeThunder Party Shaykh Sayeed Abdul Jaffar Nadiri Muhammad Hazai Sayeed Ismail Balkhee
See also Hezbe Wahdat
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