Ismail Khan was an officer in the
Afghanistan army when the
Soviets arrived in
1979. He fought against them for 10 years, becoming a
Mujahedin commander. Later he became governor of
Herat. In
1995 the
Taliban captured Herat and he was forced to flee. In
1997, while organising opposition to the Taliban, he was handed over to the Taliban by old adversaries.
In March
2000 he escaped and has since then been a low-profile member of the
Northern Alliance.