Ismail Khan

Ismail Khan airlifted 2,000 of his warriors to Mazar-i-Sharif from Iran. But Malik, one of the Doustum's generals, switched the sides and joined the Taliban. On May 19, 1997 Mazar-i-Sharif fell. Doustum fled to Uzbekistan.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Salang Pass

Chasing Massoud and reaching Salang Pass, the talibs have stopped because the pass was guarded by Doustum forces, and his position was not quite clear. It did become clear soon enough, though. He wanted autonomy under the talibs, and the Taliban never negotiated with warlords. The next target, therefore, was Mazar-i-Sharif, which now could be attacked from two directions simultaneously, from Herat and Kabul.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Attempts to capture Kabul

The next year was spent in unsuccessful attempts to capture Kabul, which was defended by Ahmad Shah Massoud. Rabbani, the official president of Afghanistan, began building a political alliance with the groups that did not quite support him before: the Uzbeks, the Jalalabadis, and the Hazaras. Russia and Iran also helped him as the least of two harms. Even India joined in from a simple desire to obstruct Pakistan in everything. Trying to gain the initiative, the Taliban suddenly attacked Jalalabad in the end of August of 1996 and captured it in two weeks. Without any stops, the talibs advanced at Kabul and took it on September 26.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Taliban reorganized

The Taliban, however, by that time has reorganized its command and control system, not without help from Pakistan, and rearmed its soldiers. The Pakistanis have also convinced Rashid Doustum to support the talibs and bomb Herat using his air force. On September 3, 1995 the Taliban have recaptured Shindand, and on the fifth Ismail Khan has surrendered Herat and fled to Iran, just as he did in 1979.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

counteroffensive

Massoud joined forces with Ismail Khan, using his aviation to bomb the talibs and to airlift 2,000 of his warriors to Herat. By the end of summer of 1995 Ismail Khan even began a counteroffensive against the talibs and captured back some of his territory.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Paths of Glory

Within two months the Taliban had over 10,000 people in its ranks, who were inspired by its goals and achievements.

In three months the talibs controlled 12 provinces out of 31 and reached the outskirts of Kabul and Herat. Destroying Hikmetyar's forces, they have opened access to Kabul for the food trucks that were turned away by Hikmetyar. Massoud, however, has stopped the Taliban's advance towards the capital, and they turned their attention to Herat, capturing Shindand near it.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

own air force

Two weeks later the Pakistanis sent a truck convoy with medicine to Central Asia. The convoy has been hijacked near Kandahar, and the Pakistanis asked the Taliban to intervene. The talibs attacked three days later, released the trucks, and killed the hijackers. The very same evening they attacked Kandahar itself and captured it in two days of fighting. Now they had their own air force with six fighters and six helicopters. None of them operational yet, however.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Spin Boldak

In October of 1994 the Taliban has captured a border city of Spin Boldak, which was controlled by Hikmetyar's forces before that. Along with the city, the talibs have got a weapons dump with 18 thousand Kalashnikov rifles.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

rape

A few months later, still in Kandahar, two other warlords had a shootout on the account of not a girl but a boy this time, whom they both wanted to rape anyway. A few passersby have been shot in the process although they did not want to rape anybody at all and just happened to be in the vicinity of the duel. The talibs have freed the boy.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

From Words to Actions

The Spring of 1994 was when the first action by the Taliban has happened. A Kandahari warlord has abducted two girls and kept them at his military base where they were being gang-raped. Thirty talibs — with 16 automatic rifles — have attacked the base, freed the girls, and executed the warlord by hanging him on a tank barrel. And they have got a lot of arms from that raid.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

support

They got lucky with the means, however. Pakistani authorities had their own reasons to support the Taliban. Trade with Central Asia was seriously disrupted by the impossibility to send goods overland through Afghanistan. Hikmetyar controlled the border crossings in Southwestern Afghanistan and forced the goods being reloaded from Pakistani trucks to the Afghan ones. And gangsters would then hijack the trucks along the route. The Pakistanis were ready to support any force that could guarantee safe passage of the shipments.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Birth of the Taliban

Afghan refugees did not rush to return to their homeland from Pakistan after the Soviet troops have been withdrawn. The Taliban has been born exactly there, among the mujahed veterans, many of whom have been studying in theological schools at the time. The name itself means “students”. When the international community has almost completely forgotten Afghanistan, the talibs thought they could be the only force that could still bring peace to their home. After prolonged discussions, they have created a program with clear goals and yet unclear means. They were going to restore peace, disarm the population, and realign the social life with the Islamic customs. Muhammed Omar has been elected as the leader of the movement. He was 35 at the time.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Kandahar

Kandahar area has got the worst deal — there was no single controlling force there, and the region was torn apart by the feuding warlords and plain gangsters. The city itself has been divided between hostile groups.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

control

Doustum controlled six provinces in the North. Three western provinces around Herat belonged to Ismail Khan. Rabbani governed Kabul and North-East. Jalalabad was managed collectively by the local warlords. Hikmetyar seized a small region near Kabul and also controlled some Pushtun areas near the Pakistani border. The center of the country belonged to the ethnic group of Hazaras.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror

Anarchy

In 1992, after the fall of the Communists, Kabul, traditionally a Pushtun city, fell under control of Tajiks Rabbani and Massoud and an Uzbek Doustum. This has immediately provoked a new war — this time between the mujaheds themselves — when Pushtun Hikmetyar besieged Kabul. Since nobody could realistically win that war, the situation has run into a dead end, and the country has been divided between the warlords.

Håndværker - colic-help - skateboard - terror