The Battle of Kabul was a series of intermittent
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
s and
siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
s over the city of
Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
during the period of 1992–1996.
Throughout the
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
from 1979 to 1989, and subsequent
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
(1989–1992) the city of Kabul saw little fighting. The collapse of
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
's regime in April 1992 led to a peace treaty between the Afghan political parties and the establishment of the
Islamic State of Afghanistan
The Islamic State of Afghanistan was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties participated in its creation, after the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, socialist government. Its power was ...
. But soon after, the undisciplined commanders from both former
mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...
and Communist ranks started to vie for power, abetted by foreign powers, namely
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
, who began arming their Afghan proxies to fight for control and influence.
Political background
With the
breakup of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
in 1991, the Soviet-supported government of Najibullah would lose credibility amongst Afghanistan's non
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
population following the replacement of Tajik generals in the North with Pashtun ones leading to General
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; ; Uzbek language, Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Latin: , Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan former Officer (armed forces), military officer, warlord and exiled politician. He is the founder and ...
and the newly found Anti Pashtun alliance of Northern militias called the Movement of the North would ally
Ahmed Shah Massoud and
Abdul Ali Mazari, and began to take control of Mazar Sharif from the Pashtun defenders.
The capture of Mazar and the large quantities of weapons there crippled Najibullah's government and by April 14, 1992, Massoud and his forces took control of
Charikar and Jabalussaraj in
Parwan Province
Parwan also spelled Parvan () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is the largest province of the Greater Parwan region and has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divid ...
with many
Tajik Parcham
Parcham (Pashto/ Dari: پرچم, ) was the more moderate socialist faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led by Afghan communist politician Babrak Karmal. It was later turned into the Watan (Homeland) Party with a mor ...
ites defecting while
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
Khalq
Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...
ists and Najibullah loyalists put up resistance.
At this point, it was reported that Massoud had approximately 20,000 troops stationed around Kabul. By mid-April, the air force command at Bagram capitulated to Massoud. With no army to defend it, Kabul had become completely helpless.
[''The Fall of Kabul, April 1992'', Library of Congress country studies]
As soon as he announced his willingness, on March 18, to resign in order to make way for a neutral interim government, Najibullah immediately lost control. As the government broke into several factions, the issue was how to carry out a transfer of power to a new government. Najibullah resigned on April 14 and attempted to leave Kabul on April 17, but was stopped by Dostum's troops, who controlled
Kabul International Airport. Najibullah then took refuge at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
mission where he remained until 1996. A group of Parchami generals and officials, led by acting President
Abdul Rahim Hatif, declared themselves an interim government for the purpose of handing over power to Tajik warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud.
However many Pashtun
Khalq
Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...
ists and Najibullah loyalists opposed this and would enter an alliance with
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami.
Massoud hesitated to enter Kabul, waiting for the political parties to reach a peace and power-sharing agreement first. In April 1992, the
Peshawar Accord was signed. It established the
Islamic State of Afghanistan
The Islamic State of Afghanistan was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties participated in its creation, after the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, socialist government. Its power was ...
and stipulated that an interim government would be formed with a supreme leadership council. A transitory presidency was given to
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (; 27 September 1926 – 11 February 2019) was an Afghan politician, who served as Acting President after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah's government in April 1992. He was the first leader to call for armed resistance aga ...
for two months, after which
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...
was to succeed him.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...
was given the post of prime minister, but he did not accept this position as he did not want to share power and Pakistan was urging him to take power for himself. Massoud, in a recorded conversation, tried to convince Hekmatyar to join the peace agreement and not to enter Kabul. But Hekmatyar replied he would enter the capital with "our naked sword. No-one can stop us". Hekmatyar's
Hezb-i Islami forces with assistance of their new
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
allies began to infiltrate Kabul. This forced Massoud to advance on the capital in order to preserve the Peshawar Accord and prevent the establishment of a Hekmatyar dictatorship.
Eleven armed groups in total entered Kabul and its vicinities, which included the seven Sunni
Afghan mujahideen
The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...
; the Shi'ite
Islamic Movement of
Asif Mohseni and
Hezbe Wahdat of
Abdul Ali Mazari; and the
Junbish-i Milli
The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (, ''Junbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan''), sometimes called simply Junbish, is a Turkic political party in Afghanistan. Its founder is Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum who created it in 1992 made from h ...
of ex-communist
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; ; Uzbek language, Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Latin: , Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan former Officer (armed forces), military officer, warlord and exiled politician. He is the founder and ...
. The different groups entered the city in different directions. Hezb-i Islami made the first move and entered the city from the south. With soldiers armed and financed by Pakistan,
Hekmatyar had asked other groups such as
Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami and the
Khalis faction to join him while entering Kabul, but they declined his offer and instead backed the Peshawar Accord. Jamiat-i Islami had seized massive amount of weapons while overrunning the mostly Pashtun Communist garrisons in
Bagram
Bagram (; Pashto/) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Valley, near t ...
,
Charikar,
Takhar,
Kunduz
Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...
,
Fayzabad and other northern cities. Adding to that, all the forces of
Junbish-i Milli
The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (, ''Junbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan''), sometimes called simply Junbish, is a Turkic political party in Afghanistan. Its founder is Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum who created it in 1992 made from h ...
had aligned themselves to the Jamiat, and the former Communist government of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
had decided to surrender all its weapons to Jamiat, instead of Hezb. All the Parchamis had fled abroad through the Jamiat-controlled areas. Jamiat had seized massive stockpiles of heavy weapons such as
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick turret armour.
In contra ...
and
T-55 tanks, Scud missiles and
MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...
s.
Hekmatyar's Hezb forces were very far from key points of the city such as the presidential palace, the prime minister's office,
Kabul International Airport, the ministry of defense and many other important government offices. Much of the city lies on the North Bank of the
Kabul River
The Kabul River (; ), the classical Cophen , is a river that emerges in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is separated from the watershed of the Helmand River by th ...
.
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...
's Jamiat forces quickly took control of these strategically important offices. Although Hezb forces got to the gates of the ministry of justice and took control of the ministry of the interior, they were quickly repulsed after bombing from the
Afghan Air Force, which was supported by artillery shells fired from a TV tower onto Jade Maiwand. Hundreds of Hezb fighters were killed or taken prisoners, including some foreign fighters.
In the western sector of the city, the Hezb forces crossed the Kabul River and arrived at the northern bank after taking control of the
Karte Seh area. While charging towards the Kote Sangi and Kabul University, Sayyaf's forces attacked Hezb forces from the Ghazi School area in a surprise move, and the Hezb forces were separated into two groups after being cut off by Jamiat troops. Throughout the night, the exhausted and demoralized forces of Hezbi Islami fought. After suffering heavy casualties, Hezb forces on the southern bank deserted their positions, fleeing out of Kabul towards
Logar.
Kabul came completely under Islamic State control on April 30, 1992, but the situation was far from stabilised. The Hezb-i Islami had been driven out, but they were still within artillery range, and soon started firing tens of thousands of Pakistan-supplied rockets into the city.
When Hekmatyar's forces had overrun
Pul-e-Charkhi prison, while still in the centre of Kabul, they had set free all the inmates, including many criminals who were able to take arms and commit gruesome actions against the population.
[De Ponfilly, p. 405
] With the government institutions either collapsing or participating in the factional fighting, maintaining order in Kabul became almost impossible. The scene was set for the
next phase of the war.
Timeline
1992
April–May

The immediate objective of the interim government was to defeat the forces acting against the peace agreement (the Peshawar Accord), particularly Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami (backed by Pakistan) but later to include Mazari's Wahdat (backed by Iran) and Dostum's Junbish (backed by Uzbekistan).
The forces of Jamiat and
Shura-e Nazar entered the city, with agreement from
Nabi Azimi and the commander of the Kabul garrison, General
Abdul Wahid Baba Jan, that they would enter the city through Bagram, Panjshir, Salang and Kabul Airport. Many government forces, including generals, joined Jamiat, including the troops of General Baba Jan, who was at the time in charge of the garrison of Kabul. On April 27, all major parties had entered the city.
Meanwhile, in Western Kabul, an area that would later see some of the fiercest fighting and greatest massacres of the war, Sayyaf's mostly Pashtun forces began to enter the city from
Paghman and
Maidan Shar.
As mentioned above, Kabul came completely under the control of the interim government on April 30, 1992, and hopes were rising for a new era. But the situation was far from stabilized. The Hezb-i Islami had been driven out, but they were still within artillery range, and soon started firing tens of thousands of rockets into the city. Fighting between Hezb-i Islami and Junbish occurred in the Shashdarak area of Kabul. On May 5–6, 1992, Hizb-i Islami subjected Kabul to a heavy artillery bombardment, killing and injuring an unknown number of civilians. On May 23, 1992, despite a cease-fire, the forces of Junbish-i Milli bombarded Hizb-i Islami positions in Bini Hissar,
Kalacha and Kart-iNau.
Peace talks on May 25, 1992, originally agreed to give Hekmatyar the position of prime minister. However, this lasted less than a week after Hekmatyar had attempted to shoot down the plane of President
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (; 27 September 1926 – 11 February 2019) was an Afghan politician, who served as Acting President after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah's government in April 1992. He was the first leader to call for armed resistance aga ...
.
Furthermore, as part of the peace talks, Hekmatyar was demanding the departure of Dostum's forces, which would have tilted the scales.
On May 30, 1992, during fighting between the forces of Junbish-i Milli and Hizb-i Islami in the southeast of Kabul, both sides used artillery and rockets killing and injuring an unknown number of civilians.
Shura-e Nazar forces were said to have been around the customs post on
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
Road under the command of
Gul Haidar and
Baba Jalandar, who also were active in the areas such as the military university.
June–July
In June 1992, as scheduled,
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...
became President of Afghanistan.
From the onset of the battle, Jamiat and Shura-e Nazar controlled the strategic high areas, and were thus able to develop a vantage point within the city from which opposition forces could be targeted. Hekmatyar continued to
bombard Kabul with rockets. Although Hekmatyar insisted that only Islamic Jihad Council areas were targeted, the rockets mostly fell over the houses of innocent
civilian
A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
s of Kabul, a fact which has been well-documented.
Artillery exchanges quickly broke out, escalating in late May-early June. Shura-i Nazar was able to immediately benefit from heavy weapons left by fleeing or defecting government forces and launched rockets on Hekmatyar's positions near the Jalalabad Customs Post, and in the districts around Hood Khil, Qala-e Zaman Khan and near Pul-i Charkhi prison. On June 10, it was reported that Dostum's forces had also begun nightly bombardments of Hezb-i Islami positions.
[Jamilurrahman, Kamgar. “Havadess-e Tarikhi-e Afghanistan 1990–1997. Peshawar: Markaz-e Nashrati (Meyvand, 2000) pp. 66–68 translation by Human Rights Watch.]
Particularly noticeable in this period was the escalation of the fight in West Kabul between the Shi'a Wahdat forces supported by Iran and those of the Wahhabist Ittihad militia supported by Saudi Arabia. Wahdat was somewhat nervous about the presence of Ittihad posts which were deployed in
Hazara areas such as Rahman Baba High school. According to reports by Nabi Azimi, who at the time was a high ranking governor, the fighting began on May 31, 1992, when four members of Hezb-e Wahdat's leadership were assassinated near the Kabul Silo. Those killed were Karimi, Sayyid Isma'il Hosseini, Chaman Ali Abuzar and Vaseegh, the first three being members of the party's central committee. Following this, the car of Haji
Shir Alam, a top Ittihad commander, was stopped near Pol-e Sorkh, and although Alem escaped, one of the passengers was killed. On June 3, 1992, heavy fighting between forces of Ittihad-i Islami and Hizb-I Wahdat in West Kabul broke out. Both sides used rockets, killing and injuring civilians. On June 4, interviews with Hazara households stated that Ittihad forces looted their houses in Kohte-e Sangi, killing six civilians. The gun battles at this time had a death toll of over 100 according to some sources. On June 5, 1992, further conflicts between forces of Ittihad and Hizb-i Wahdat in West Kabul were reported. Here, both sides used heavy artillery, destroying houses and other civilian structures. Three schools were reportedly destroyed by bombardment, and an unknown number of civilians were injured or killed. Gunmen were reported killing people in shops near the Kabul Zoo. On June 24, 1992, the Jamhuriat hospital located near the interior ministry was bombed and closed. Jamiat and Shura-e Nazar forces sometimes joined the conflict when their positions came under attack by Wahdat forces and in June and July bombarded Hizb-i Wahdat positions in return. Harakat forces also sometimes joined the fight.
August–December
In the month of August, a bombardment of
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
shells, rockets and fragmentation bombs killed over 2,000 people in Kabul, most of them civilians. On August 1 the airport was attacked by rockets. One hundred and fifty rockets were launched the following day, and according to one author, these missile attacks killed as many as 50 people and injured 150. In the early morning on August 10 Hezb-e Islami forces attacked from three directions—Chelastoon, Darulaman and Maranjan mountain. A shell also struck a Red Cross hospital. On April 10–11 nearly a thousand rockets hit parts of Kabul including about 250 hits on the airport. Some estimate that as many as 1,000 were killed, with the attacks attributed to Hekmatyar's forces.
By August 20 it was reported that 500,000 people had fled Kabul. On August 13, 1992, a rocket attack was launched on Deh Afghanan in which cluster bombs were used. Eighty were killed and more than 150 injured, according to press reports. In response to this, Shura-e Nazar forces hit Kart-I Naw, Shah Shaheed and Chiilsatoon with aerial and ground bombardment. In this counterattack, more than 100 were killed and 120 wounded.
Hezb-i Islami was not, however, the only perpetrator of indiscriminate shelling of civilians. Particularly in West Kabul, Wahdat, Ittihad and Jamiat all have been accused of deliberately targeting civilian areas. All sides used non-precision rockets such as Sakre rockets and the UB-16 and UB-32 S-5 airborne rocket launchers.
In November, in a very effective move, Hekmatyar's forces, together with
guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
from some of the
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
groups, barricaded a power station in
Sarobi, 30 miles east of Kabul, cutting electricity to the capital and shutting down the water supply, which is dependent on power. His forces and other Mujahideen were also reported to have prevented food convoys from reaching the city.
On November 23, Minister of Food Sulaiman Yaarin reported that the city's food and fuel depots were empty. The government was now under heavy pressure. At the end of 1992 Hizb-i Wahdat officially withdrew from the government and opened secret negotiations with Hizb-I Islami. In December 1992, Rabbani postponed convening a
shura
Shura () is the term for collective decision-making in Islam. It can, for example, take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other.
Shura is mentioned as a praise ...
to elect the next president. On December 29, 1992, Rabbani was elected as president and he agreed to establish a parliament with representatives from all of Afghanistan. Also notable during this month was the solidification of an alliance between Hezb-i Wahdat and Hezb-i Islami against the Islamic State of Afghanistan. While Hizb-i Islami joined in bombardments to support Wahdat, Wahdat conducted joint offensives, such as the one to secure
Darulaman. On December 30, 1992, at least one child was apparently killed in Pul-i Artan by a BM21 rocket launched from Hezb-i Islami forces at Rishkor.
About the bombardments

Throughout the war, the most devastating aspect of it remained the indiscriminate shelling of the city by
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...
and later
Rashid Dostum. Although most sides engaged in bombardments, some were more indiscriminate in their targeting.
As Jamiat-i controlled the strategic high areas, they were better able to target specific military objectives rather than resorting to indiscriminate shelling as other factions such as Hezb-i Islami had done. According to the officer, the 3rd Regiment deployed in the
Darulaman area, where Wahdat Corps had based their artillery commander, as well as the area near the Russian Embassy where Wahdat's Division 096, were particularly targeted by the long ranged rockets. Charasyab, which housed Hizb-i Islami's artillery, Shiwaki, where the intelligence department was deployed and the Rishkor Division were also targeted, in addition to the Dasht-I Saqawa airport in
Logar Province
Logar (Pashto/Dari: لوگر) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Puli Alam is the capital of the province. As of 2021, Logar ...
.
By far the worst perpetrator of attacks against non-military targets were the forces of Hizb-i Islami. These included attacks against hospitals and a bombing attack on the headquarters of the International Red Cross. There was general indiscriminate bombing starting in August.
In 1994 the forces of
Rashid Dostum were involved in indiscriminate shelling.
Kandahar at the same time
Kandahar
Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
was filled with three different local
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
commanders Amir Lalai,
Gul Agha Sherzai and
Mullah Naqib Ullah who engaged in an extremely violent struggle for power and who were not affiliated with the interim government in Kabul. The bullet-riddled city came to be a center of lawlessness, crime and atrocities fuelled by complex Pashtun tribal rivalries.
1993
January–February
On January 3, 1993, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of the Jamiat-i Islami Party, was sworn in as president. However, Rabbani's authority remained limited to only part of Kabul; the rest of the city remained divided among rival militia factions. On January 19, a short-lived
cease-fire broke down when Hezb-i Islami forces renewed rocket attacks on Kabul from their base in the south of the city supervised by Commander
Toran Kahlil. Hundreds were killed and wounded while many houses were destroyed in this clash between Hizb-i Islami and Jamiat-i Islami.
Heavy fighting was reported around a Wahdat post held by Commander
Sayid Ali Jan near Rabia Balkhi girls' school. Most notable during this period was the rocket bombardments which would start against the residential area of Afshar. Some of these areas, such as Wahdat's headquarters at the Social Science Institute, were considered military targets, a disproportionate number of the rockets, tank shells and mortars fell in civilian areas. Numerous rockets were reportedly launched from Haider-controlled frontlines of Tap-I Salaam towards the men of Division 095 under
Ali Akbar Qasemi. One attack during this time from Wahdat killed at least nine civilians. Further rockets bombardments took place on February 26, 1993, as Shura-e Nazar and Hezb-i Islami bombarded each other's positions. Civilians were the main victims in the fighting which killed some 1,000 before yet another peace accord was signed on March 8. However, the following day rocketing by Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami and Hezb-i Wahdat in Kabul left another 10 dead.
Afshar
The Afshar Operation was a military operation by
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...
's Islamic State of Afghanistan government forces against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's
Hezb-i Islami and Hezb-i Wahdat forces that took place in February 1993. The Iran-controlled Hezb-i Wahdat, together with the Pakistani-backed Hezb-i Islami of Hekmatyar, were shelling densely populated areas in Kabul from their positions in Afshar. To counter these attacks, Islamic State forces attacked Afshar in order to capture the positions of Wahdat, capture Wahdat's leader Abdul Ali Mazari and to consolidate parts of the city controlled by the government. The operation took place in a densely populated district of
Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
, the Afshar District. The Afshar District is situated on the slopes of Mount Afshar in West Kabul. The district is predominantly home to the
Hazara ethnic group. The Ittihad troops of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf escalated the operation into a rampage against civilians. Both Ittihad and Wahdat forces severely targeted civilians in the war. The Wahhabist Ittihad supported by Saudi Arabia was targeting Shias, while the Iran-controlled Wahdat was targeting Sunni Muslims as well as their own people.
March–December
Under the March accord, brokered by Pakistan and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, Rabbani and Hekmatyar agreed to share power until elections could be held in late 1994. Hekmatyar's condition had been the resignation of Massoud as minister of defense. The parties agreed to a new peace accord in
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
on May 20 under which Massoud agreed to relinquish the post of defense minister. Massoud had resigned in order to gain peace. Hekmatyar at first accepted the post of prime minister but after attending only one cabinet meeting he left Kabul again starting to bomb Kabul leaving more than 700 dead in bombing raids, street battles and rocket attacks in and around Kabul. Massoud returned to the position of minister of defense to defend the city against the rocket attacks.
1994
January–June
The war changed dramatically in January 1994. Dostum, for different reasons, joined with the forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Hezb-i Islami, along with their new allies of Wahdat and Junbish-i Milli, launched the
Shura Hamaghangi campaign against the forces of Massoud and the interim government. During this, Hezb-i Islami was able make use of Junbish's air force in both bombing the positions of Jamiat and in resupplying their men. This led to greater artillery bombardment on behalf of Hezb-i Islami. Hezb-i Islami and Junbish were able to hold parts of central Kabul during this time. Junbish forces were particularly singled out for committing looting, rape and murder. Some commanders such as
Shir Arab, commander of the 51st Regiment,
Kasim Jangal Bagh,
Ismail Diwaneh Ismail the Mad" and
Abdul Cherikwere particularly singled out. According to the Afghanistan Justice Project, during this period until June 1994, 25,000 people were killed. Areas around Microraion were particularly bloody. By now the population of Kabul had dropped from 2 million during Soviet times to 500,000 due to a large exodus from Kabul.
However, by the end of 1994 Junbish and Dostum were on the defensive, and Massoud's forces had ousted them from most of their strongholds. Massoud more and more gained control of Kabul. At the same time, Junbish was able to push Jamiat out of
Mazar-e Sharif
Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the List of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh prov ...
.
July–December
Significant changes occurred in 1994 in how the war was conducted and who fought which side. The Taliban movement first emerged on the military scene in August 1994, with the stated goal of liberating Afghanistan from its present corrupt leadership of warlords and establishing a pure Islamic society. By October 1994, the Taliban movement had attracted the support of Pakistan, which was unhappy with the unsuccessful Hekmatyar, which saw in the Taliban a way to secure trade routes to Central Asia and establish a government in Kabul friendly to its interests. Pakistani traders who had long sought a secure route to send their goods to Central Asia quickly became some of the Taliban's strongest financial backers. The Pakistanis also wished for a stable government to take hold in Afghanistan, regardless of ideology, in hopes that the 3 million Afghans who for 15 years had taken refuge in Pakistan would return to their homeland since the refugee population became increasingly viewed as a burden.
In October 1994, a bomb struck a wedding ceremony in Qala Fathullah in Kabul, killing 70 civilians. No fighting had been witnessed in the area in several days according to reports.
Also in October 1994, the Taliban revolted in Kandahar, capturing the city on November 5, 1995, and soon going on to capture most of the south.
1995
The Taliban soon began to approach Kabul, capturing Wardak in early February and Maidshahr, the provincial capital on February 10, 1995. On February 14, 1995, Hekmatyar was forced to abandon his artillery positions at
Charasiab due to the advance of the Taliban. The Taliban were therefore able to take control of this weaponry. In March, Massoud launched an offensive against Hezb-e Wahdat. Mazari allied himself with the Taliban, allowing them to enter Kabul, although many of Wahdat's forces joined Massoud instead. Massoud's forces heavily bombarded Western Kabul driving Wahdat out. According to other reports the forces of Jamiat-e Islami also committed mass rape and executions on civilians in this period. The Taliban retreated under this, taking Mazari with them and throwing him from a helicopter en route to Kandahar. The Taliban then continued to launch offensives against Kabul, using the equipment of Hezbe Islami. While the Taliban retreated, large amounts of looting and pillaging was said to have taken place in southwestern Kabul by the forces under Rabbani and Massoud.
In March 1995, Massoud's forces were able to drive out the Taliban from the area around Kabul, and retake
Charasiab, leading to a relative period of calm for a few months. The battle left hundreds of Taliban dead and the force suffered its first defeat.
In October, the Taliban retook
Charasiab. Between November 11–13, 1995, at least 57 unarmed civilians were killed and over 150 injured when rockets and artillery barrages fired from Taleban positions south of Kabul pounded the civilian areas of the city. On November 11, 36 civilians were killed when over 170 rockets as well as shells hit civilians areas. A salvo crashed into Foruzga Market. Rockets struck the Taimani District where many people from other parts of Kabul had settled. Other residential areas hit by artillery and rocket attacks were the Bagh Bala District in the northwest of Kabul and Wazir Akbar Khan where much of the city's small foreign community live.
[Amnesty International. "Afghanistan: Further Information on Fear For Safety and New Concern: Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings: Civilians in Kabul." 16 November 1995 Accessed at: ]
On November 20, 1995, the forces of the Taliban gave the government a five-day ultimatum after which they would resume bombardment if Rabbani and his forces did not leave the city. This ultimatum was eventually withdrawn.
By the end of November and December, more than 150 people had died in Kabul due to the repeated rocketing, shelling and high-altitude bombing of the city, reportedly by Taliban forces.
1996
In September 1996 the Taliban seized Kabul.
[Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Afghanistan. §5.6 Burgeroorlog". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.] In its first action, the Islamic militant group publicly hanged former president
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
and his brother General Shahpur Ahmadzai, perceiving them to be puppets loyal to nations other than Afghanistan. All key government installations appeared to be in the Taliban's hands within hours, including the presidential palace and the ministries of defense, security and foreign affairs. The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
was proclaimed, securing recognition from
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
and the partially recognized
Chechen Republic of Ikheria. A rigidly strict version of Sharia was imposed upon the population.
Massoud's militia and other groups decided to retreat to the north to reduce civilian casualties. The
United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...
, a coalition of various armed factions known in the Pakistani and Western media as the "Northern Alliance", was constituted in opposition to the Taliban under the leadership of Massoud.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
;Afghanistan – the Squandered Victory (documentary film) by the BBC
(documentary film directly from the year 1989 explaining the beginning of the turmoil to follow)
*
;Massoud's Conversation with Hekmatyar (original document from 1992)
*
;Commander Massoud's Struggle (documentary film) by Nagakura Hiromi
(from 1992, one month after the collapse of the communist regime, after Hekmatyar was repelled to the southern outskirts of Kabul, before he started the heavy bombardment of Kabul with the support of Pakistan)
*
*
*
*
;Starving to Death Afghanistan (documentary report) by Journeyman Pictures/ABC Australia
(from March 1996)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Kabul (1992-1996)
20th century in Kabul
1990s conflicts
1990s in Afghanistan
Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)
First Siege of Kabul (1992-1995)
History of Afghanistan (1992–present)
Sieges of Kabul
Modern history of Afghanistan
Taliban
Warlordism