Civil war in Afghanistan

Afghan Civil War (1996-2001 period)
Part of the Afghan Civil War
Factions after the 1996 fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
Date September 27, 1996–October 7, 2001 Location {{{place}}} Result Taliban makes gains against Northern Alliance, NATO intervention.
Belligerents
Northern Alliance Iran Russia[1][2]	Taliban Al-Qaeda
Commanders
Burhanuddin Rabbani Ahmed Shah Massoud † Mohammed Fahim Abdul Rashid Dostum	Mohammed Omar Obaidullah Akhund Mullah Dadullah Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri

History of Afghanistan
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Pre-Islamic Period
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The Civil war in Afghanistan continued after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, with the formation of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (more commonly known as the Northern Alliance), which attempted to oust the Taliban, from 1996 to 2001.

It proved largely unsuccessful, as the Taliban continued to make gains and eliminated much of the Alliance's leadership. The Northern Alliance was supported by Russia, Turkey, Iran and India while the Taliban were supported by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Background

Since 1978, Afghanistan had been in a civil war between different factions. The Mujahedin eventually succeeded in taking control in 1992, only to then descend into chaos as they fractured into different groups all fighting for control of the nation.

In 1994 the Taliban was formed and made gains against the other factions, and by 1996 they had taken Kabul and executed the former President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah, who had been residing there under UN protection since his regime was ousted in 1992.

The Taliban practiced a radical form of Sunni Islam that took strict stances on women and society. Additionally, they were a predominantly Pashtun militia, and so imposed their ethnic customs onto non-Pashtuns. Much of the civil war could be characterized as an ethnic conflict between the Pashtun Taliban, and the non-Pashtun Northern Alliance, since both sides of the conflict espoused fundamentalist Islam, though the Taliban subscribed to a particularly narrow interpretation of Islam.

Timeline

Northern Alliance formed

After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on September 27, 1996,^[3] Uzbek General Dostum joined forces with the Tajik Ahmed Shah Massoud to form the Northern Alliance to defeat the Taliban.^[4] Both parties espoused Islamic fundamentalism, and wished to impose Sharia law in the country. Russia and Iran supported the Northern Alliance, because they were concerned about the Taliban and Al-qaeda's growing influence, while the UAE and Saudi Arabia backed the Taliban financially. Pakistan also backed the Taliban, as they saw this as a good opportunity to increase their influence in the region.

Alliance pushes to Kabul

In October 1996, the Taliban began to strike points north of Kabul with jets and artillery while Dostum and Massoud massed forces in preparation for an offensive.^[5] On October 19, the alliance pushed forward with tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy weapons into the Bagram airbase, which was the first major victory against the Taliban since they lost Kabul.^[6]

They continued their advance and vowed to retake Kabul, with Massoud's front line commander stating "God willing, we will be in Kabul today or tomorrow."^[7] But fighting raged for several days, and the lack of a major breakthrough forced the Alliance to withdraw to northern positions.^[8]

Dostum faces uprising

In 1997 the Taliban began an offensive against the territories held by General Dostum that caused some of his forces, led by General Abdul Malik, to rebel and join the Taliban on May 20.^[9] This led him to flee Afghanistan, leaving much of his army behind, and seek refuge in Uzbekistan. The newly Taliban-friendly forces handed over the city of Mazari Sharif to the Taliban.

Soon, however, their strict stance against Shiite Muslims led to a confrontation between Hazara militias and the Taliban. In intense fighting in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban were defeated, and 3,000 of their soldiers were captured and executed. The forces of Massoud attempted another push towards the capital. After making gains north of the capital, they once again met heavy resistance in Kabul.^[10]

The Taliban continued to push into the Alliance's territory, however, and reached Mazar-i-Sharif, taking it again by August 8, 1998.

Iranian crisis

Also among those killed in Mazari Sharif were several Iranian diplomats. Others were kidnapped by the Taliban, touching off a hostage crisis that nearly escalated to a full scale war, with 250,000 Iranian soldiers massed on the Afghan border at one time.^[11] It was later admitted that the diplomats were killed by the Taliban, and their bodies were returned to Iran.^[12]

In September the Taliban claimed that Iran violated its airspace, and later Iran claimed minor clashes occurred between the Taliban and Iran after it led a raid into eastern Iran, though the Taliban denied it led the raid.^[13][14] Eventually with UN mediation, the tensions cooled.

Continued push

The Taliban continued to push north, making gains against the Northern Alliance in 1999. At one time they held roughly 95% of the nation and had pushed the Northern Alliance out of range of Kabul entirely. But Ahmed Shah Massoud once again defended the Panjshir Valley from Taliban advances and brought the war to another stand still.^[15]

Massoud assassinated

On September 9, 2001, a suicide bomber, posing as a journalist, blew himself up after gaining access to Ahmed Shah Massoud office. The suicide bomber was killed along with one of Massoud's followers, and the Afghan commander's guards killed the second person posing as a journalist. Massoud was struck in the chest with shrapnel from the bomb, which was either hidden in the camera or concealed around the waist of one of the terrorists. Massoud died shortly after being taken to Tajikistan for emergency care.

It is reported that al-Qaeda carried out this attack against Massoud to eliminate the Northern Alliance's most effective military leader. At this time Taliban human rights violations and actions such as the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, were creating international support for Massoud's group as the legitimate representatives of Afghanistan,^[16] while Al-Qaeda was planning the September 11th, 2001 attacks on America which were sure to provoke serious retaliation and create a need for the Taliban's protection.^[17] The killing was reportedly handled by Ayman Zawahiri and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad wing of al-Qaeda.

The attack left the Northern Alliance leaderless, and removed "the last obstacle to the Taliban’s total control of the country ..."^[18] But did not lead to chaos as some had feared. The Northern Alliance held together and would go on to work with the USA and its coalition in Operation Enduring Freedom. At the time of Massoud's assassination, Northern Alliance strength was estimated at 11,000 troops and the Taliban at 45,000.^[19]

See also

• Civil war in Afghanistan
• History of Afghanistan since 1992
• Timeline of the history of Afghanistan

References