All of the groups were Sunni Muslims, and all were majority Pashtun except Jamiat-i-Islami, which was Tajik. Another alliance based out of Iran was composed of mainly Shi'a Muslims.
Although the alliance took its formal shape in the 1980s, it had de facto existed as a political bloc since May 1979, when the Pakistani government decided to limit the flow of foreign financial aid, mainly from the United States (under the Reagan Doctrine) and Saudi Arabia, to the said seven organizations, thus cutting off monetary supply to nationalist and leftwing resistance... Read More