Mazari-i Sharif was important because it is the home of the Shrine of Ali or "Blue Mosque", a sacred Muslim site, and because it is a significant transportation hub with two major airports and a major supply route leading into Uzbekistan. Taking the city would enable humanitarian aid to alleviate a looming food crisis, which threatened more than six million people with starvation. Many of those in most urgent need lived in rural areas to the south and west of Mazar-i-Sharif. On November 9, 2001, Northern Alliance forces, under the command of Dostum and Ustad Atta Mohammed Noor, overcame resistance crossing the Pul-i-Imam Bukhri bridge and seized the city's main military base and airport.