The United Front (in full: United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan; acronym: UF; Persian: ‏ جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان‎, Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islami-yi Milli bara-yi Nijat-i Afghanistan), known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in late 1996 under the leadership of the then Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. The United Front fought as a resistance force against the Afghan Taliban who according to many sources were supported by Pakistan's military and Al-Qaeda. The UF united all ethnic groups of Afghanistan including Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen and others.

The United Front was established in late 1996 as a resistance force against the Taliban by opposition factions representing all ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Since early 1999, Ahmad Shah Massoud was the only main leader able to defend his territory against the Taliban and their allies and as such remained as the main de facto political and military leader of the United Front recognized by members of all the different ethnic groups. Massoud decided on the main political line and the general military strategy of the alliance. A part of the United Front military factions such as Junbish-i Milli or Hezb-e Wahdat, however, did not fall under the direct control of Massoud but remained under their respective regional or ethnic leaders.