[4] Inhabiting the areas along or adjacent to the main road leading north from the Salang Tunnel, the cooperation of the Isma'ilis became indispensable to the PDPA regime so as to guarantee the security of convoys moving southwards to Kabul.
Most of the units of the corps came under the sway of Abdul Rashid Dostum's Juneshi-i-Mili Islami, or National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan.
[9] The force was theoretically 120,000 men strong, equipped with large amounts of armour and artillery, spread across seven of Afghanistan's provinces, from Maimana, to Sheberghan, home of the 53rd Division, to Pul-i-Khumri in the east.
The 29th AMF Division was reported as responsible for the nine eastern districts of Badakhshan and was a part of Dostum's 6th Corps in Kunduz.
[11] Brigadier General Mohammed Daoud Andrabi Khan became corps commander and was reportedly the most powerful man in Kunduz province.
An arms collection effort was initiated in late November and early December 2001 by General Atiqullah Bariyalai, who briefly headed the 6th Army Corps before becoming deputy defence minister in 2002.