Islamic State of Afghanistan

1996–2001: in Northern Alliance zone only
2001–2002Motto: 
لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله
lā ʾilāha ʾillà l-Lāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu l-Lāh
"There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"Anthem: قلعه اسلام قلب اسیا
"Fortress of Islam, Heart of Asia"
(1992–1999; 2002)CapitalKabul (de jure)Capital-in-exileTaloqan (1996–2000)
Fayzabad (2000–2001)Common languagesDari, PashtoReligion IslamDemonym(s)AfghanGovernmentUnitary Islamic
provisional government
(1992–1996; 2001–2002)
Government-in-exile
controlling a rump state
(1996–2001)President Sibghatullah MojaddediBurhanuddin RabbaniHamid Karzai Prime Minister Abdul KohistaniGulbuddin HekmatyarArsala Rahmani DaulatAhmad Shah AhmadzaiGulbuddin HekmatyarAbdul Rahim Ghafoorzai Historical eraCivil War • War on Terror24 April 199228 April 199227 September 19961996–20017 October 200113 November 200111 June 2002 CurrencyAfghani (AFN)Calling code93ISO 3166 codeAF

Preceded by	Succeeded by
1992: Republic of Afghanistan 2001: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan	1996: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 2001: Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan

Today part ofAfghanistan

The Islamic State of Afghanistan^{[1][alt 1]} was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties^[2][3] participated in its creation, after the fall of the socialist government. Its power was limited due to the country's second civil war, which was won by the Taliban, who took control of Kabul in 1996. The Islamic state then transitioned to a government in exile and led the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. It remained the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan at the United Nations until 2001, when the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan was created and an Afghan Interim Administration took control of Afghanistan with US and NATO assistance following the overthrow of the first Taliban government. The Transitional Islamic State was subsequently transformed into the Islamic Republic, which existed until the Taliban seized power again in 2021 following a prolonged insurgency.

Background

In March 1992, President Mohammad Najibullah, having lost the Russian support that upheld his government, agreed to resign and make way for a neutral, interim government. Several mujahideen parties started negotiations to form a national coalition government. But one group, the Hezb-e Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, presumably supported and directed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), did not join the negotiations and announced its intent to conquer Kabul alone. Hekmatyar moved his troops to Kabul, and was allowed into the town soon after 17 April. This left the other mujahideen groups no choice but to enter Kabul, on 24 April, to prevent Hekmatyar from taking over national government.^[2][4]
This ignited a civil war between five or six rival armies, (nearly) all backed by foreign states. Several mujahideen groups proclaimed an 'interim government' on 26 April 1992 but this never attained real authority over Afghanistan.

History

Rabbani and Hekmatyar

President Mohammad Najibullah, leader of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, was forced to resign on 15 April 1992.^[5] The Peshawar Accord of 25 April 1992, which established a power-sharing interim government to take control of Kabul, was signed by six of the seven major Afghan anti-Soviet resistance parties^[5] (notably excluding the Hezb-e Islami ["Islamic Party"] faction of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Pashtun, who refused to sign the Accord), and supported by some remnants of the Najibullah administration. An Islamic state was proclaimed,^{[clarification needed]} Islamic law introduced, bars were closed, and women were ordered to wear the hijab.^[5] In June, Burhanuddin Rabbani, leader of the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami ("Islamic Association") faction, was made interim-president of the new Islamic State of Afghanistan, and on 30 December 1992 he was elected head of the 7-member Government Council for a two-year term.^[5] However, Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami rebel faction (which had split from Jamiat-e Islami in 1976) demanded a share in power as well, and started clashing with Rabbani's troops. After months of fighting, they signed an agreement in March 1993 making Hekmatyar the Prime Minister of Afghanistan in June, and shortening Rabbani's presidency from 2 years to 1.5 year.^[5] Fighting between different rebel factions continued, however, and Kabul was largely destroyed.

Rise of the Taliban

In late 1994, a new Pashtun-dominated Islamic fundamentalist militia called the Taliban (lit. '"Religious students"') managed to conquer large parts of southern Afghanistan with the support of Pakistan.^[5] Making steady gains throughout 1995 and 1996, the Taliban were able to seize control of the capital city of Kabul in September 1996, driving the Rabbani government and other factions northward, and by the end of the year occupying two-thirds of Afghanistan. Former president Najibullah was arrested and executed in public by hanging on 27 September 1996.

The Taliban renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and imposed an even more strict version of Sharia and purdah on the population they controlled. This especially negatively impacted women, who were forced to wear a burqa, stay indoors and banned from working outside the house with rare exceptions. Almost all girls lost access to education, increasing illiteracy rates. Movie theaters, soccer stadiums, and television stations were now closed as well.^[5]

The Northern Alliance

The ousted Rabbani government formed a political coalition with Tajik leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, and the Shia Hizb-i-Wahdat faction (dominated by Hazaras) of Karim Khalili.^[5] Its formal name was United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, known in the Western world as the Northern Alliance, and its goal was to take back the country from the Taliban.

Part of a series on the
History of Afghanistan
Timeline
Ancient Indus Valley Civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus Civilization 2100–1800 BC Gandhara Kingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Macedonian Empire 330–312 BC Seleucid Empire 312–150 BC Maurya Empire 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 256–125 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Indo-Greek Kingdom 180–130 BC Indo-Scythian Kingdom 155–80? BC Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD Sasanian Empire 230–651 Kidarite Kingdom 320–465 Rob Alchon Huns 380–560 Hephthalite Empire 410–557 Nezak Huns 484–711
Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Principality of Chaghaniyan 7th–8th centuries Rashidun Caliphate 652–661 Tang China 660–669 Tibetan Empire 660–842 Umayyads 661–750 Zunbils 680–870 Lawik 750-977 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghurids before 879–1215 Seljuks 1037–1194 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Mongol Invasion 1219–1226 Chagatai Khanate 1226–1245 Qarlughids 1224–1266 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1507 Arghuns 1520–1591
Modern Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709 Hotak dynasty 1709–1738 Sadozai Sultanate 1716–1732 Afsharid Iran 1738–1747 Durrani Empire 1747–1823 Principality of Qandahar 1818–1855 Emirate 1823–1926 Saqqawist Emirate 1929 Kingdom 1926–1973 Daoud coup 1973 Republic 1973–1978 Saur Revolution 1978 Democratic Republic 1978–1992 Tanai coup attempt 1990 Islamic State 1992–1996 Islamic Emirate 1996–2001 US invasion 2001 Islamic State (reinstated) 2001 Interim/Transitional Administration 2001–2004 Islamic Republic (politics) 2004–2021 Islamic Emirate (reinstated) since 2021
Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan
Related topics Political history Culture Economic history Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests
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v t e

By the end of May 1997, the Taliban offensive came to a halt due to a number of strategic victories by the Northern Alliance. International pressure forced both sides to negotiate, but the demands posed by either party were so high that the differences were irreconcilable, and a political impasse ensued.^[5] The country was in a dire state according to a 1997 United Nations report, which found that the infant mortality rate was 25%, numerous civil casualties due to landmines, economic blockades imposed by the militias causing hunger, and international humanitarian organisations being unable to carry out their work. A February 1998 earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan killed 4,500 people.^[5]

In the first half of 1998, the negotiations appeared to reach a peace settlement, but then the Northern Alliance fell apart. Taking advantage of the resistance factions' disunity the Taliban launched a campaign, rapidly conquering the provincial capital cities of Maimana, Sheberghan, and finally Mazar-i-Sharif (8 August 1998). Taliban fighters committed a massacre amongst the Shia population of the last city, also killing eight Iranian diplomats and journalists. This aroused international outrage, and brought the Taliban regime on the brink of war with Iran.^[5]

The Northern Alliance drove the Taliban away in December 2001, following the United States invasion of Afghanistan. The Islamic State of Afghanistan was succeeded by the interim Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 
  Faction control in Kabul (1992)
• 
  Factions after the fall of Najibullah (1992)
• 
  Factions after Taliban conquered Kabul (1996)
• 
  Taliban–Northern Alliance war (2000)

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Saikal, Amin (2004). Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85771-478-7.

37°7′03″N 70°34′47″E / 37.11750°N 70.57972°E / 37.11750; 70.57972

Preceded by Republic of Afghanistan	Islamic State of Afghanistan 1992–1996	Succeeded by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Preceded by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan	Islamic State of Afghanistan 2001–2002	Succeeded by Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan