How a power vacuum in Kabul triggered four years of brutal factional warfare
Following the 1992 collapse of Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed government, the victorious mujahideen factions turned their weapons on each other. What began as a struggle for control of the capital devolved into a chaotic, multi-sided civil war, eventually paving the way for the Taliban to seize power in 1996.
The Afghan Civil War, spanning from April 1992 to September 1996, emerged immediately after the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. When President Mohammad Najibullah resigned, various mujahideen groups—including Jamiat-e Islami, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, and Ittehad-e Islami—vied for control. While the Peshawar Accords attempted to establish an Islamic State with a rotating presidency, the agreement failed to unite the disparate militias. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, refused to join the coalition and instead launched a relentless bombardment campaign against Kabul, supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The conflict was characterized by shifting alliances, ethnic divisions, and foreign interference. Saudi Arabia backed the Sunni Ittehad-e Islami to promote Wahhabi influence, while Iran supported the Shia Hezb-i Wahdat. In Kabul, these factions engaged in devastating street battles and indiscriminate rocket attacks that decimated the city. By the end of 1992, Kabul’s population had plummeted from 2,000,000 to 500,000 as residents fled the violence. The city’s infrastructure was crippled when Hekmatyar’s forces cut off electricity and water supplies, and food depots were left empty.
By 1994, the emergence of the Taliban—a movement of religious students from Pashtun areas—fundamentally altered the landscape. Initially supported by Pakistan, the Taliban promised to end the lawlessness caused by the warring warlords. They captured Kandahar in late 1994, Herat in 1995, and finally Kabul in September 1996, establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. This victory ended the immediate civil war but signaled the start of a new, long-term conflict against the Northern Alliance. The human cost of the 1992–1996 period was immense, with tens of thousands of civilians killed and the country’s political and social fabric deeply scarred by the intense, multi-factional fighting.
Source: Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
