Editing Ismail Khan (section)

==Early life and rise to power==
Khan was born in 1946 in the [[Shindand District]] of [[Herat Province]] in Afghanistan. An ethnic [[Tajiks|Tajik]], his family is from the Chahar-Mahal neighborhood of Shindand.

In early 1979, Ismail Khan was a [[Captain (OF-2)|captain]] in the [[Afghan Army]] based in the western city of Herat. In early March of that year, there was a protest in front of the Communist governor's palace against the arrests and assassinations being carried out in the countryside by the [[Khalq]] government. The governor's troops opened fire on the demonstrators, who proceeded to storm the palace and hunt down Soviet advisers. The Herat garrison mutinied and joined the revolt in what is called the [[1979 Herat uprising|Herat uprising]], with Ismail Khan and other officers distributing all available weapons to the insurgents. The government led by [[Nur Mohammed Taraki]] responded, pulverizing the city using Soviet supplied bombers and killing up to 24,000 citizens in less than a week.<ref name="Johnson">''Ismail Khan, Herat, and Iranian Influence'' by Thomas H. Johnson, Strategic Insights, Volume III, Issue 7 (July 2004)[http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA485209] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719090418/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA485209|date=2013-07-19}}</ref> This event marked the opening salvo of the rebellion which led to the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan]] in December 1979. Ismail Khan escaped to the countryside where he began to assemble a local rebel force.<ref>Coll, Steve. ''Ghost Wars''. pg 40. 2004, Penguin Books.</ref>

During the ensuing war, he became the leader of the western command of [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]]'s [[Jamiat-e-Islami]], political party. With [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]], he was one of the most respected mujahideen leaders.<ref name="Johnson" /> In 1992, three years after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the mujahideen captured Herat and Ismail Khan became [[list of governors of Herat|governor]].

In 1995, he successfully defended his province against the [[Taliban]], in cooperation with defense minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. Khan even tried to attack the Taliban stronghold of [[Kandahar]], but was repulsed. Later in September, an ally of the Jamiat, [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] General [[Abdul Rashid Dostum]] changed sides and attacked Herat. Ismail Khan was forced to flee to neighboring [[Iran]] with 8,000 men, and the Taliban took over Herat Province.

Two years later, while organizing opposition to the Taliban in Faryab area, he was betrayed and captured by [[Abdul Majid Rouzi]] who had defected to the Taliban along with [[Abdul Malik Pahlawan]], then one of Dostum's deputies.<ref name="Johnson" /> Then in March 1999 he escaped from Kandahar prison. During the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|U.S. intervention]] in Afghanistan, he fought against the Taliban within the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ([[Northern Alliance]]) and thus regained his position as Governor of Herat after they were victorious in December 2001.