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pakistanis in a convoy reconnoitering a route to Turkmenistan, were kidnapped
by some local mujahideen. held for ransom they were only released after
intervention by a group of Taliban. Following this incident, and allegedly with
the tacit and grateful support of Babur, they captured Kandahar.
Well armed from stores of weapons left over from the mujahideen’s conflict
with the russians found along the pakistan border, within a year they took
herat. They were evolving into a highly political movement with the goal to
seize the whole of the country and to establish a truly Islamic state. Using
Japanese pickups in order to speedily attack or retreat, they became an
efficient fighting force.
Throughout the next two years the war continued, with the pashtun forces of
the Taliban pitted against the warlords, but in 1996 the victorious Taliban
entered Kabul. massoud, who had assumed leadership of the Northern
Alliance, retreated north with the Tajiks, whilst Dostum remained secure in
mazar in the north. hekmatyar sought refuge in Iran.
In 1996 osama Bin Laden arrived at Kabul. The CIA had just opened a new
office to track him down and he realized that there would be both security and
support amongst the Taliban who controlled most of Afghanistan.
In 1998 Al Qaeda had mounted major operations in Kenya and Tanzania killing
391 and wounding 5,077 people in total. By 2000 Al Qaeda was effectively
supporting the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and massoud’s
stronghold at Talogan was captured by a force of ‘foreign fighters’. The entry
Afghan mujahideen forces advance toward
the front lines march 15, 1989 during the
battle for Jalalabad in eastern
Afghanistan. The battle between Afghan
mujahideen groups based in peshawar,
pakistan and government troops of
president Najibullah was undertaken to
establish a mujahideen interim
government in Jalalabad after the Soviet
Army withdrawal from Afghanistan in
February, 1989. The Najibullah
government managed to hold onto power
until April, 1992.
of Al Qaeda marked only one part of a wider movement of armed radical
Islamists entering Afghanistan. pakistani and Arab intelligence agencies
operated there, but most of the fighters were refugees or the young men from
pakistani madrassas.
For many Afghans whose religion had been influenced by elements of Sufism,
the Taliban’s intolerant outlook on Islam was unwelcome. But as they quickly
took over towns and controlled areas, the Taliban began to radically alter lives,
instituting order, stability and a sense of justice, though with harsh
punishments speedily enacted. They removed checkpoints and opened many
roads which had previously been impassable because of warlords exacting
tolls. The Taliban were accepted by many who had been subjected to war and
banditry for over 16 years and had almost forgotten stability. however the
Taliban’s strict rulings meant that women were removed from public life:
women in any public office lost their jobs and schools for girls were closed,
female teachers were sacked and universities were closed to them. Traditional
pastimes, like playing marbles and flying kites, were no longer allowed, music
and dancing prohibited. Televisions were removed, cigarettes banned, and in
herat, mohammed mashal’s mural was destroyed.
In 1997, with much of the country under Taliban control, the UN appointed
Lakhdar Brahimi as the UN special representative to try to bring the civil war to
an end. A Six-plus-Two group was established – US and russia, with
Afghanistan’s neighbors of pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran
and China – to bring influence on the warring groups. It too came to nothing.